Stanford students more than twice as likely to wear a mask on bicycle than helmet: Analysis

The editor in chief of the Stanford Review conducted his own survey of 400 students on campus.

The findings proved that 'idiocy and innumeracy have won a total victory' at Stanford, the editor in chief wrote for the paper.

As colleges across the country impose mask mandates, Stanford Review editor in chief and student Maxwell Meyer has grown increasingly worried about his peers’ “bizarre, pointless habits.” 

This prompted him to conduct a social experiment in which he found that at his school, Stanford University, students are more likely to wear masks while riding their bikes than they are a safety helmet.

Per the school’s policy, masks are required indoors despite vaccination status, but remain optional in outdoor settings.

On September 22, Meyer observed 400 students cycling on campus. Of the sample size, 134 students (34%) wore a mask while riding their bike, but not a helmet, with only 10% wearing a helmet without a mask, and 7% wearing both.

Overall, Meyer found that among student-cyclists, 41% wore masks, but only 17% wore helmets.

Claiming that 99% of the university is vaccinated against Covid-19, Meyer expressed concern over his fellow students mental well-being, writing that they “have adopted bizarre, pointless habits to comport with new expectations about how to ”stay safe” -- like wearing masks outdoors -- all while continuing in much more risky behaviors.”

[RELATED: Clemson issues mask mandate night before profs set to protest]

 Meyer then called out his school’s administration, particularly President Marc Tessier-Lavigne for instilling irrational mask-dependency in the student body, calling it an “embarrassment” and mentioning that at one point, Stanford even tried to incentivize safe cycling by issuing free helmets in the past.

”What does it say about our brain-scientist-in-chief that he has failed to convince Stanford students to wear bicycle helmets (including when the university gave out free helmets!) but has successfully created an environment where bicycle-masking is routine? In my judgement, it’s a pretty big embarrassment for a public scientist and leader like MTL,” Meyer wrote.

Meyer concluded his review analysis with scathing remarks towards the school and his peers, claiming that “idiocy and innumeracy have won a total victory” on Stanford’s campus, joking that “there’s no point in protecting your brain if you don’t plan on using it. At Stanford, nobody expects you to do either.”

Campus Reform reached out to both Stanford and Meyer individually. This article will be updated accordingly.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @_addisonsmith1