UA trustees go maskless at Fayetteville campus meeting

Campus’s policy covering ‘everyone’ went into effect Aug. 11

University of Arkansas system trustees Mark Waldrip (right) and Stephen Broughton visit at the board of trustees meeting in Fayetteville in this Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, file photo. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)
University of Arkansas system trustees Mark Waldrip (right) and Stephen Broughton visit at the board of trustees meeting in Fayetteville in this Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, file photo. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)

FAYETTEVILLE -- A mostly in-person meeting of the University of Arkansas board of trustees took place with board members not wearing masks, despite an August board resolution for campuses to implement an indoor face covering policy.

Dr. Stephen Broughton, a Pine Bluff psychiatrist and chairman for the 10-person board, said after Thursday's meeting that trustees would wear masks at other campus sites.

As far as not wearing masks during the meeting, "I don't know that there's a rationale," Broughton said. He said board members are vaccinated against covid-19.

"I don't think there's any other reason other than the fact that we've been around each other and know we've all been vaccinated," Broughton said.

The meeting took place with eight board members seated at long tables in Boyer Hall at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House. University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt, also seated at the tables with the trustees, wore a face covering during the meeting.

Two trustees appeared via a remote link so they weren't in the building: Ed Fryar and Sheffield Nelson.

The UA-Fayetteville campus policy that took effect Aug. 11 states that masks are required indoors in all university facilities when at least six feet of physical distancing cannot be maintained.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » arkansasonline.com/917uatrustees/]

Charles Robinson, now UA's interim chancellor, in an Aug. 11 message to the campus community stated that the policy "goes for everyone, whether you have been vaccinated or not." Bill Kincaid, at the time the university's acting chancellor, co-signed the message.

On Thursday, board members sat within six feet of one another, though not packed shoulder-to-shoulder, during a meeting that lasted roughly two hours. The board is scheduled to reconvene today.

Those not on the board but seated in attendance appeared to be wearing face coverings and were separated from the trustees by a distance of more than 10 feet. Speakers who addressed the board from a lectern removed their face coverings while talking.

Masking measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus were announced by colleges days after an Aug. 6 order from a Pulaski County circuit judge that temporarily blocked the state's anti-masking law.

The 10-person UA board in August approved a resolution directing campuses in the UA System to implement face covering policies "regardless of vaccination status" for indoor public settings when physical distancing cannot be assured, and stated that the policies should be for "students, faculty, staff and guests."

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

Asked about the board's resolution, Broughton said the trustees, while seated at their tables Thursday, had "just a very limited exposure to anybody else out there."

He added: "I have my mask, I put my mask on," and that, "for communication sakes, there has been a little bit of a problem hearing, and we want to make sure that everything is recorded appropriately.

As a physician, I recommend masks and vaccinations."

[EMAIL SIGNUP: Form not appearing above? Click here to subscribe to updates on the coronavirus » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus/email/]

Upcoming Events