Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, will fine and cut the internet access of non-exempt students who fail to show proof that they have been vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus. The university’s fines for unvaccinated students start at $100 a week and quickly escalate to $200 a week, or $2,275 for a full semester.
Students who don’t comply with the vaccine mandate will face a weekly fee starting at $100, which will increase by $25 after two weeks, and will cap out to a maximum fine of $200 per week, according to a report from the school’s student newspaper, the Quinnipiac Chronicle.
The fee can reach up to $2,275 for the entire semester, and the only way students can stop the fines will be to submit proof of their first vaccination shot.
Moreover, students will also lose access to Wi-Fi, as well as the campus network if they fail to complete the vaccination mandate by September 14, which suggests that an online alternative to learning is not an option for the unvaccinated.
Additionally, unvaccinated students are required to be tested for the coronavirus each week, and will be fined an additional $100 for each week they fail to get tested, the report adds.
And even if students get vaccinated, they will still need to participate in weekly testing until two weeks after their second dose, as well as provide a negative coronavirus test before returning to school.
Despite the vaccine requirement, Quinnipiac has also reinstated its indoors mask mandate in response to the delta variant.
Anti-vaccine rally protesters hold signs outside of Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, on June 26, 2021. – A spokesperson for Houston Methodist Hospital said on June 23, 153 employees either resign or were fired for refusing to be vaccinated. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
This information was reportedly communicated to around 600 Quinnipiac students who have not requested an exemption or provided the university with proof that they have gotten the jab.
Quinnipiac senior Sydnie Bookman told the Quinnipiac Chronicle that she believes these protocols and fines should be expanded to vaccinated students as well, because they can still unknowingly carry the Wuhan virus.
“Both vaccinated and unvaccinated students could be jeopardizing the community’s health and forcing us back to Zoom University,” she said.
Quinnipiac University is not the only university to punish students who do not comply with draconian measures in the new era of the Chinese coronavirus and public fear.
The University of Michigan has punished hundreds of students for missing mandatory coronavirus tests by deactivating their access cards to nonresidential buildings. Cornell University has also announced that students would lose access to campus Wi-Fi, course materials, and facilities for missing virus tests.
Meanwhile, schools across the country — such as Rutgers University, Columbia University, the University of Virginia, and University of California and California State University campuses — have also mandated their students get vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.