Meredith Stafford, staff writer 

Berry has removed the indoor mask mandate for visitors on campus alongside their recent changes in the protocols for students, faculty and staff. This change affects larger programs like the Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) and Decision Berry. 

Dean of Students Lindsey Taylor said that there are also no requirements for vaccinations among visitors that come on campus. 

“I think at this point the numbers are such that most of our visitors are still out of buildings, they’re outside,” Taylor said. “They’re in and out, for the most part, so quickly that risks should be low.” 

Berry encourages visitors to wear masks when they feel uncomfortable or that there is an appropriate reason to. Hand sanitizer will continue to be provided for guests. 

“At this point, we need to begin making the shift, unless something—another variant comes—but we need to start making the shift of personal responsibility and accountability,” Taylor said. “If you’re not feeling well, remove yourself. If you need to, wear a mask. So, we’re starting to make that shift.” 

According to Chief of Staff Debbie Heida, the GHP Interview Day on Saturday followed the same policies as Berry and allowed individuals to make personal decisions. 

“They have followed our guidelines and, when we had GHP here last summer, they followed our guidelines as well,” Heida said. “So just as we’ve had testing requirements, we had the same arrangement with them for testing of students who were here for GHP if they were not vaccinated at that point.” 

Heida said that Berry has an open campus that receives visitors often for recreational purposes and for campus events. 

“That’s always been a pretty permeable barrier in terms of campus,” Heida said. “We want to be an open place, so we’re not trying to stop visitors. If we’ve got concerns again, we’ll reinstitute a mask policy if we need to. But what we’ve tried to do with all our mitigation strategies is have them be the right strategy for the time and right now, it seemed a good time to be lifting those mitigation strategies.” 

Berry’s COVID-19 precautions and mask policies have also affected Decision Berry, both in the present and over the past year. Shira Kerce, assistant director for events and visitor experiences, described the event as being for students admitted for the upcoming fall semester. According to Kerce, students have many different options for events throughout the day: meeting with professors in their major, attending student panels, attending a LifeWorks session or attending an activity with the Berry Outdoor Leadership Development (BOLD) staff, among others. Students are also able to take part in full-campus tours or residence hall tours. Kerce said that Decision Berry caps the number of students on an event day at 80. 

Director of Enrollment Engagement and Experiential Marketing Kinsey Stout stated that the campus mask policy applied to Decision Berry events, but added that particular areas of campus or faculty members may require them in meetings or visits. 

“We know that certain professors, certain meeting spaces, things like that still have a policy that they’re upholding and we would ask our guests to make sure they had a mask with them at all times so that if they were in a place where they were being asked to wear them, then they could comply with that,” Stout said. 

According to Stout, COVID-19 precautions have had a large impact on how Decision Berry has functioned over the past year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she estimated that the event would have been 175 and 200 students in attendance, but it was lowered to a maximum of 50 students last year. This year, they were able to increase the group size, but Stout said that they kept them at a small and manageable size to give students a more personalized experience. 

Stout said that they would continue to follow any changes in Berry’s policy and that precautions in the future may include limiting visitor access to the Dining Hall and residence halls. Currently, guests are being allowed in these areas on tours, but Stout said that they would have caution in those spaces. 

“I think we’re still in a place where a number of colleges still aren’t doing standard tour and visit experiences, so I think the fact that they are able to come on campus even with some limitations, those limitations around masking as well as the access to certain spaces, I think, generally speaking, they’ve been very willing to comply with that,” Stout said. 

Kerce added that Decision Berry had not had any issues with visitors not wanting to wear a mask when asked to. 

“We haven’t had any issues with that and, there are still some families who choose to wear masks, just like there are students who work for us and students on campus, so there’s definitely still a mix,” Kerce said.