Recently, the mask mandate has been lifted, and many Lafayette students are thrilled. Many students have opted to go mask-less, while others have chosen to keep theirs on. Either way, it’s completely optional.

Melvin Barrios-Monzon chooses not to wear a mask. “I don’t like how hard it is to breathe, and how it fogs my glasses up.” He explained how wearing a mask is uncomfortable. He stated he is glad the requirement has been lifted, “It was getting old.”

Another person we spoke to and who asked to stay anonymous explained they choose to continue to wear a mask saying “I think the mask mandate should still be enforced, even though there’s less Covid cases now, releasing the precautionary measures before it’s completely gone is only going to make Covid cases spike up again. You can’t exactly call off the precautionary measures when there’s still plenty of cases going around.”

They explained that they continue to wear a mask to keep themselves and others around them safe. They believe the mask mandate shouldn’t have been lifted and that even though cases are going down, they still think precautions should be taken.

Aiden Gross chooses to continue wearing a mask. “I dislike it. I feel like even though people didn’t wear their masks anyways I still liked the mask mandate. I’m still wearing a mask even though I don’t like the mask mandate being lifted. I’m not going to go around telling people what to do.”

There are many people on both sides of the coin, some believe that the mandate should still be enforced while others believe that it’s old and they’re glad it’s gone. No matter what side of the argument you are on though the question still stands: Will the mask mandate be gone for good now? Of course if Covid cases spike again there is a very good chance that the mandate will be enforced once again. So is it worth it to experience the freedom of not wearing masks now?