Santa Clara University (SCU) has mandated students receive a vaccine against the Chinese coronavirus – even if they will only be taking online classes.
SCU acting president Lisa A. Kloppenberg announced July 27 vaccination would be required of all students registered at the school, all faculty, and all staff.
Undergraduate students were required to be vaccinated by September 1.
“Now with virus transmission increasing – especially among unvaccinated populations exposed to the Delta variant – vaccination remains as critical as ever to reducing the spread of COVID-19,” Kloppenberg stated.
“[T]his requirement will be enforced whether or not current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for the three vaccines have changed from “emergency use” to “full” status by that date” [sic], she added.
In SCU’s “COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs” section of the website, the school states even students who are taking only remote classes must be vaccinated to remain registered:
I am a student in a hybrid online/on-campus graduate program. Do I need to be vaccinated?
All students will need to be fully vaccinated and submit documentation of their COVID-19 vaccination, including students taking a 100% online program and as well as students taking 100% online courses.
A student taking only remote classes at Rutgers University also claimed Tuesday he is prohibited from online classes because he has not been vaccinated, Breitbart News reported:
Logan Hollar, 22, told NJ.com he largely ignored the school’s coronavirus mandate “because all my classes were remote” from his Sandyston home, a distance of some 70 miles from the university’s principle campus in New Brunswick.
But he was locked out of his Rutgers email and related accounts when he went to pay his tuition at the end of last month — and was told he needed to be vaccinated even though he has no plans to attend in person, according to the report.
“I’ll probably have to transfer to a different university,” Hollar told NJ.com, revealing at least one other student to his knowledge is in the same position.
“I find it concerning for the vaccine to be pushed by the university rather than my doctor,” he told the outlet.
Students at SCU may qualify for an exemption to the vaccine mandate if they have “a medical contraindication to the vaccine, detailed in written documentation from a healthcare provider.”
Faculty and staff are eligible for a religious exemption “by attesting and describing that they have ‘a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance that is contrary to the practice of immunization.’”
SCU states students are not eligible for religious exemptions because of “the ongoing risk posed by COVID-19 and the delta variant in particular, and our goal of a safe return to campus.”
A person rides a scooter on the California State University Long Beach campus before the return of students for Fall classes in Long Beach, California. All teachers in California will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to weekly virus tests. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty)
The school dictates students who fail to register their vaccination or medical exemption “prior to their program’s move-in or first day of instruction or are not actively in the middle of the vaccination process will be prohibited from moving in and/or attending classes until they take action on their non-compliance.”
“For faculty and staff failure to either register one’s vaccination record or complete the exemption process will be treated as a performance issue following the corrective action process as outlined in Policy 310,” a process that includes the potential for suspension or termination.
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