Adjustment to VSU Mask Requirements

Greetings Virginia State University Community,

Thank you for helping to keep our campus safe as we all work together to mitigate our risks to COVID-19.

There is very encouraging news to share. Our current COVID-19 VSU campus positivity rate is below 4% and COVID-19 Community Levels for Petersburg, Hopewell, Colonial Heights and Chesterfield are described as low by the CDC. 

As a result of these positive trends and based on research, the VSU COVID-19 Task Force and the VSU Administration have adjusted our VSU campus safety measures. Effective today, masks are no longer required in OUTDOOR spaces on campus.  Masks are still required while in class and inside all buildings and residence halls on campus. This also includes dining halls (except when actively eating), meeting rooms, office spaces (except when alone), and laboratories. 

While the decision to wear a mask in outdoor spaces is being modified from mandatory to voluntary, we continue to remind members of our VSU community to respect each individual’s decisions about when to wear a mask and when to go without one in outdoor spaces. 

University leaders and health experts continue to evaluate our remaining campus health policies as we monitor the COVID-19 rate in our surrounding communities. We remain flexible to adjust more policies as conditions around us change. However, in order to keep our community safe, we also reserve the right to reinstate the mask requirements for outdoor spaces if conditions around us change.  We further reserve the right to require masks for any outdoor event that may present a significant risk to our community. As a reminder, our Health Services Department continues to offer free COVID-19 testing on campus.

COVID-19 has been a part of our lives for more than two years now. We have remained flexible as we adjusted our protocols to keep our campus family safe.  Thank you for your patience and for doing your part for the safety of our family and our community.