Penn State AD Sandy Barbour talks COVID-19 policies, Big Ten forfeiture plan and more
Penn State will be moving forward with its plan for full capacity at Beaver Stadium this fall, but will be malleable to any changes that need to occur in its plan, according to athletic director Sandy Barbour.
“I think flexibility ... is certainly something that has to go along with a public health issue like COVID,” Barbour said during a Saturday afternoon press conference. “... The required vaccination is not in our plans at this point. I think from what our fans can look forward to seeing, there are several adjustments as they relate to COVID. ... We’ve expanded some of our gates to make the entry, not only more expeditious overall, but also from a COVID standpoint in terms of not standing in lines. ... We certainly are encouraging our fans to get in earlier to try to limit the times we’ve got significant lines at our gates.”
The current plan for games does not include masking outdoors, vaccination mandates or negative COVID-19 test requirements. It does require masking indoors but not the concourse area of the stadium.
“We consider the concourses an outdoor area, an open air area,” Barbour said. “For that, obviously, we rely upon the medical experts. It’s about air flow, etc. The indoor areas in our suite tower and our press tower are considered indoor and will require mask wearing.”
While the department won’t be requiring mask-wearing in outdoor areas, Barbour said that could change if guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention change, or if recommendations from state or local health officials change.
The plan comes after the university announced it wouldn’t be requiring vaccinations for students.
Like other students, athletes are not required to receive a COVID-19 vaccination and the athletic department will not be releasing how many student-athletes are vaccinated within each individual program.
However, Barbour did give a vaccination rate for Tier 1 personnel within the department, which includes players, coaches and other essential personnel. She said 82.2% of those individuals are fully vaccinated, which means it does not include any personnel who have received only the first dose of the two-dose vaccinations.
“Some of our folks, some students in particular, that we do know have received their first vaccine and have not yet received their second, so they’re not categorized as fully vaccinated,” Barbour said. “So, obviously, we know that 82.2 already will move up, are guaranteed to move up. And then certainly we believe that more and more will make the decision to get vaccinated.”
Barbour added that she hopes those who wish to wear a mask outdoors will feel comfortable doing so, and wants fans to be able to experience a full-capacity Beaver Stadium in a safe manner for the first time since 2019.
“I think we just have to be smart and understand that the virus is with us,” Barbour said. “And we need to use our good judgment around that, but come to Beaver Stadium and enjoy a football Saturday for the first time in a couple years.”
Quick hitters
- Barbour said she thinks the Big Ten is “very close” to announcing its plans for forfeiting games. She believes it will revert back to the old policy the conference used, where teams would forfeit if they couldn’t play due to having the requisite number of players. That was not the case in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Big Ten is looking at what programs or steps it could take to provide value moving forward after Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 and will be joining the SEC. Barbour said the financial aspect will be key, but the academic aspect of adding universities or aligning with conferences will also be heavily weighted.
- Penn State will not be releasing the contract for any program personnel outside of the athletic director and head football coach. That means new men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry’s contract will not be publicly available.
This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 2:18 PM.
