Chancellor threatens smaller crowds if Kansas Jayhawks basketball fans don’t mask up
University of Kansas chancellor Douglas Girod is concerned about mask wearing compliance at Allen Fieldhouse, and he says there could be consequences if fans don’t show improvement in upcoming KU men’s and women’s home basketball games.
Girod released a statement to campus, which centered on Douglas County recently implementing an emergency mask mandate for all indoor public spaces that went into effect Friday.
While Girod said KU had “a strong culture of mask wearing and adherence to our mask requirement in our academic spaces,” that has not been the case at Allen Fieldhouse, where he says mask wearing has “waned” during the fall semester.
“I want to be very clear how important it is that fans adhere to the mask policy within Allen Fieldhouse beginning with our next women’s home game Saturday, Jan. 8, versus Oklahoma and our men’s game Tuesday, Jan. 11, versus Iowa State,” Girod said. “The reality is, if the situation in our county continues to deteriorate, and if mask wearing continues to be a challenge inside the Fieldhouse, likely next steps include closing concessions and reducing fan attendance for men’s basketball games.”
KU men’s basketball, after having a few home games without fans last season, increased its attendance to about 2,500 per game while responding to the pandemic. This season, there have been no attendance restrictions.
Coach Bill Self was asked Friday about his thoughts on the chancellor’s message and the potential of taking away fans or concessions if there wasn’t better mask compliance.
“I don’t think that’s a threat. I think that’s reality,” Self said. “Nobody wants this, but the fact that the surge is happening, and we’re dealing with it and the CDC has given their guidelines and municipalities have given their guidelines, all these sorts of things — we need to adhere to caution.”
Self said he would coach in a mask at Allen Fieldhouse if that was what the mandate required.
“I certainly won’t complain about that if that’s what the rules are,” Self said. “And my personal opinion is, nobody likes it. But if that’s what the rules are, that’s what the rules are. So if you’d like attending KU basketball games or whatnot, which 16,000 do every single time we play, then you’re going to have to mask up — with the exception of drinking or eating — but you’re gonna have to mask up and respect that.
“And if we respect it and handle it right, hopefully in the very near future, that will be taken back or given back to us that we don’t have to do that. But in this particular moment, in the near future, we have to do it.”
KU Athletics released a “Fan Q&A” on Friday detailing the new procedures on gamedays. Enforcement of mask-wearing will now be a three-strike policy, with event supervisors having the jurisdiction to remove fans from the Fieldhouse if they have already been warned twice and continue to not wear their masks. KU said in previous games, no fans had been removed because of non-compliance with mask rules.
In addition, fans are required to wear their masks at their seats when not actively eating or drinking. If fans pretend to eat or drink to keep their masks down, KU Athletics said “there is a strong possibility that concessions could be shut down” in the future, while stating that a “number of arenas around the country” have closed basketball concessions for this reason.
Girod reiterated in his message that the pandemic had taken a toll on everyone, which had caused some weariness with measures to combat it.
“But the virus continues to impact our community,” Girod said. “Now is the time to renew our efforts — both on campus and throughout the county — to protect our community. I know I can count on you to do this, beginning with mask wearing in Allen Fieldhouse.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 9:29 AM.
