From: "McAlpin, Mary K" <mmcalpin@utk.edu>
Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021 at 4:39 PM
To: Chancellor Donde Plowman <chancellor@utk.edu>
Cc: "Gross, Louis J" <lgross@tennessee.edu>
Subject: Request for a full mask mandate at UT
 
Dear Chancellor Plowman, 
We are writing to request a much stronger mandate from the UT administration concerning protections for the university community, given the extraordinary current surge in COVD cases in our area. In particular, we are asking for an immediate mask requirement for all persons inside university facilities, with exceptions only for private offices, dorm rooms, and individual study rooms. Hodges Library, for example, is not currently under a mask mandate, despite the thousands of students, faculty, and staff who are inside this building every day. 
The Delta variant has made it impossible to return to anything resembling business as usual. Absent a vaccine mandate, which we would strongly support, a universal mask mandate is only reasonable—is indeed, necessary—in the present circumstances. We are very concerned about the imminent return of many unvaccinated young people to our campus, and the likelihood of serious illness and death that will result without a stronger mask mandate. 
Sincerely, 
Mary McAlpin, MFLL; President, UTK Chapter of the AAUP 
Anne Langendorfer, English; President, United Campus Workers