ATLANTA (AP) — Protests from faculty members are still rising in Georgia’s public universities, although leaders of Georgia’s university system are not backing down from their position that schools can’t require masks or vaccines.
Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney made clear Thursday that those policies aren’t going to change, saying the system will follow the lead of Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican lawmakers who control the university system’s purse strings.
“We are fulfilling our institutional missions to deliver higher education and services for students in a way that is best for them,” MacCartney said. “Those expectations have been made clear since before the semester started. It should be no surprise. There are consequences for those not following through and doing their jobs.”
The remarks earned an unusual round applause from regents, who were almost all unmasked. They were surrounded by dozens of university presidents and administrators, who were almost all masked.
She spoke on the same day that faculty groups at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University passed resolutions calling for mask and vaccine mandates, as well as for letting campuses make their own decisions, including about whether faculty should be able to shift classes online. The University of North Georgia faculty passed a similar resolution earlier.