University Student Protests Mandate With Grapefruit ‘Mask’ One Day, Bucket on His Head Another

Kamil Bachouchi, a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, is protesting the school's mandatory masking policy in class by wearing a hollowed-out grapefruit. Courtesy of Kamil Bachouchi

Kamil Bachouchi, a 21-year-old philosophy student at Wilfrid Laurier University, showed up to class on Nov. 15 wearing a “mask”—or rather, a hollowed-out grapefruit.

It covered his nose and mouth, complying with the mandatory mask policy put in place for the fall university term. This is just the latest way Bachouchi, who plans to go to law school, is peacefully protesting an educational environment in which, he says, students “aren’t allowed to think or debate,” but are forced into “compliance.”

Bachouchi told The Epoch Times he began his protest a few weeks ago. He started with “using a ziploc bag with phone charging cables” going around his ears. He came to class one day wearing a bucket over his head. Another day, he wore a folded-in-half, upside-down blue mask. Healthy young adults should not be forced to wear a mask, he says.

Kamil Bachouchi, a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, is protesting the school's mandatory masking policy in class by wearing a bucket. His nose and mouth are covered as required. Courtesy of Kamil Bachouchi

His “peaceful revolution” complies with the current regulations in somewhat creative ways.

Laurier University said requiring masking is “aligned with our focus on the health, safety, and well-being of our university community.”

Future ‘Masks’ a Surprise

Bachouchi posts his latest “masks” on a newly created account on Twitter. Since October, he has had a rapidly growing list of more than 4,000 followers and plans to continue his protest with new, creative masks. “I will have to keep the future ones a surprise for those following and supporting, but definitely have a few planned,” said the student, who identifies as libertarian.

One of Bachouchi’s tweets said, “This isn’t China, we’re Canadian and we shouldn’t be forced to wear face condoms in rooms full of healthy 20-year olds.”

“They are teaching these young adults how to be good little soldiers who obey without thinking twice,” he added.

Kamil Bachouchi, a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, is protesting the school's mandatory masking policy in class by wearing a Ziploc bag with phone charging cables. Courtesy of Kamil Bachouchi

While most Canadian universities have dropped all COVID-19 restrictions, Laurier is one of a small number of Ontario universities that still has a mask policy in place.

Laurier “requires masks for any indoor activity that is part of academic course delivery” including lectures, tutorials, seminars, teaching laboratories, tests, and exams. Masks are also mandatory on certain floors of the library and study spaces. Any student not following the mask requirements “may be required to leave class and may face penalties under the non-academic student code of conduct.”

Teachers and professors are not required to wear a mask while teaching or lecturing.

Bachouchi says the mandatory mask policy is not being enforced uniformly in all classes.

‘Dystopian Mandate’

“This semester, I only have one teacher forcing us to wear masks by threatening us via physical removal from the class,” he said. Other students are still being told to wear masks in some classes, but the policy is arbitrary. “I have spoken to other students, and there are many teachers doing the bidding for the administration, and forcing students to wear these masks,” he said.

He added that one particular teacher did not like his choice of mask. “We got into a debate the first time I wore an ‘alternative form’ of face covering,” says Bachouchi, “but she quickly realized there was nothing she could do to make me put it on.”

So far, Bachouchi is the only student openly protesting, but he hopes other students will join in. “So far, I am alone, however, there is pretty much unanimous support among the students in this class. Everyone I have spoken to has either said they want to take the masks completely off or think it is a creative way to protest the mandate,” says the student.

In a Nov. 10 tweet, he said, “If the students stand together, they will HAVE to withdraw their dystopian mandate. I encourage anyone who knows a student at Laurier or Waterloo to take the mask off, and stand in unity for their Charter Rights and Freedoms.”

Kicked Out of School

Last year, Bachouchi was kicked out of school for refusing to disclose his personal medical status under the university’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.

He says, “They waited until a week after half of the tuition was nonrefundable to inform students that they were going to unenroll any student that failed to disclose their vaccination status. I happened to be a casualty of this policy, took what I could learn from it, and moved on. It was unfortunate.”

“This year right before the semester started, they informed the students that there would be a mask mandate,” he says.

His goal is to have the mandate withdrawn entirely. “I believe that we have reached a point of absurdity, which is not supported by any ethical or scientific reasoning. The student body has had enough, proven by the lack of mask-wearers in classes that do not have authoritarian teachers seeking to exert any kind of power they debatably wield,” he explains.

He also wants to spread the “libertarian notion that we should not be forced to do things—such as wearing a mask—that do not have any harm-prevention entailed.”

Non-Compliance

His protest is a statement about freedom. “We are being taught how to comply and obey, not to think for ourselves, and I believe this sets a dangerous precedent for the country. This opens the door for further limitation of our rights and freedoms, and the scariest part is that a large portion of the students and faculty does not see the slippery slope we can go down by handing power to those who do not earn it, or know how to use it,” said Bachouchi.

The University of Waterloo also re-implemented a mandatory mask policy on Nov. 9, but is getting pushback and non-compliance from students, according to True North News.

Brent Matheson, a business lecturer at the university, posted a photo of his whiteboard on Twitter Nov. 9. “This was on the board in my classroom. I guess at least one student doesn’t like that masks are back at the University of Waterloo.” The message read: “Mask mandate is a joke.”

Matheson posted on Twitter on Nov. 10, “Masks in the class. I held 2 tests yesterday. Lots of students won’t put them back on. I just don’t have the energy to defend this policy to students.”