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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 75
©2022 The Michigan Daily

N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . 4

M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

O PIN IO N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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UMich updates mask policy: masks 
optional in U-M buses, classrooms
University scales back mask mandate as COVID-19 cases decline on 
campus, rise in Washtenaw county

RILEY HODDER, 
ELI FRIEDMAN, 
& ANNA FIFELSKI
Summer Managing News Editors & 
Summer News Editor

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

Effective 
Monday, 
May 
2, 
the University of Michigan will 
no longer mandate the use of 
masks in classrooms or on U-M 
transportation 
— 
including 
all 
campus Blue Buses and buses 
contracted by the University — 
according to an email sent to the 
U-M community by Robert Ernst, 
Associate Vice President of Student 
Life, and Preeti Malani, U-M Chief 
Health Officer, on Wednesday.
“The 
changes 
to 
the 
face 
covering policy are consistent with 
the COVID-19 community level 
guidance from the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, 
which provides a measure of the 
impact of COVID-19 illness on 
health and health-care systems in 
addition to current case activity to 
help inform decision making for 
mitigation measures at the local 
level,” the email reads.
Mask usage in classrooms will 
still be required until the end of the 

winter 2022 term for the two schools, 
the Law School and the Medical 
School, whose winter term classes 
and exams do not finish until early 
May. Masks continue to be required 
for all patients, faculty and visitors 
at Michigan Medicine, as well as in 
COVID-19 testing sites. 
The updated policy comes over 
a month after the University lifted 
its mask mandate for most indoor 
spaces. 
The campus community is still 
expected to remain up to date 
on 
COVID-19 
vaccinations 
— 
completion of a primary series and 
a booster — according to University 
policy. 
Members 
of 
the 
campus 
community with an exemption 
from the vaccination policy are 
still expected to get weekly testing, 
which remains available through 
the University Community Sampling 
and Tracking Program (CSTP). 
Weekly 
COVID-19 
cases 
in 
Washtenaw 
County 
have 
consistently risen since early March. 
The case rate reached the year’s 
lowest point the week of March 
5, when only 219 confirmed cases 
were recorded. Cases have been 

steadily increasing since then, with 
949 cases confirmed in the last full 
week. However, the number of new 
COVID-19 cases on campus has 
decreased over the past two weeks 
but remains at a rate hundreds of 
cases higher than this year’s low rate 
of 29 additional cases in the week 
ending in March 5. 
Other college campuses have 
reinstated 
mask 
mandates 
this 
month after a rise in COVID-19 
cases. Colleges such as Columbia 
University, Johns Hopkins University 
and Georgetown University have 
made masks required in classrooms 
and in certain indoor spaces.
“Masks 
remain 
an 
effective 
measure for enhanced personal 
protection against the spread of 
COVID-19, especially for individuals 
who have a compromised immune 
status, who are not up-to-date on 
their COVID-19 vaccinations, or who 
have an increased risk of contracting 
COVID-19,” the email reads.
Managing News Editors Riley 
Hodder and Eli Friedman and Daily 
News Editor Anna Fifelski can be 
contacted at rehodder@umich.edu, 
elisf@umich.edu 
and 
afifelsk@
umich.edu.

Read more at michigandaily.com

RONI KANE 
& GEORGE WEYKAMP
Daily News Editors

‘Best Buddies’ walk together 
at the Detroit Zoo, raise 
$41,000 for IDDs in Michigan

In 2019, Jordan Tolmie from 
Rochester, 
Mich., 
and 
Kelley 
Mutschler from Warren, Mich., 
became “Best Buddies.” The pair 
had both signed up to participate 
in 
the 
one-to-one 
friendship 
matching 
program 
coordinated 
by the Michigan state chapter of 
Best Buddies — an international 
nonprofit organization that supports 
individuals with Intellectual and 
Developmental Disabilities (IDD). 
Tolmie, who is on the autism 
spectrum, said before Best Buddies 
her intellectual disability made it 
hard for her to form meaningful 
relationships. However, after being 
matched with Mutschler, Tolmie said 
her life changed. 
“I’ve had a hard time making 
friends, 
finding 
employment,” 
Tolmie said. “I wish I had all of this 
earlier — in my high school days.” 
Three years after being matched, 
Tolmie and Mutschler are still “Best 
Buddies.” With the warm April sun 

University of Michigan chapter raises the most 
money to fund program helping those with 
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 
foster connections, find careers

Courtesy of Roni Kane

shining down on the Detroit Zoo in 
Royal Oak, Mich., on Saturday, the 
two walked side by side wearing 
their purple Best Buddies shirts. 
They were joined by over 300 
other Michiganders for the state’s 
annual Best Buddies Friendship 
Walk. Friendship Walks take place 
across the country in various cities 
throughout the year and are an 
annual fundraising event for Best 
Buddies.
Saturday’s walk raised $41,439 
for the Michigan chapter of Best 
Buddies, which will help expand 
their programming across the state 
for the coming year. The University of 
Michigan chapter won the prize for 
fundraising the most money — a total 
of $9,183.
LSA 
senior 
Lydia 
Goff, 
the 
co-president of the U-M chapter 
of Best Buddies, worked with LSA 
senior Jake Weissman, the chapter’s 
executive director, to plan this year’s 
Friendship Walk at the zoo. Both Goff 
and Weissman have been involved 
with Best Buddies since high school.

