Penn State students share concerns about university’s lack of COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Tens of thousands of students are preparing to return to Penn State in the coming weeks for the in-person fall semester, and many are apprehensive given the university’s stance of not requiring the COVID-19 vaccine.

Though other measures will be taken, such as regular testing for unvaccinated students and requiring masking in all university buildings, rising junior Cameron Barker is among students who agree with University Park’s undergraduate student government, the faculty senate and the State College Borough Council that the university isn’t making the right decision with regard to vaccinations.

He said he wishes Penn State would “follow the science.”

“People like me who have made a lot of sacrifices with masking up, distancing, sacrificing social opportunities, it feels like a punch in the gut that this mask order is still in place, and there hasn’t been any sort of reward — it feels — for getting vaccinated,” Barker said.

Though he feels relatively safe on campus knowing he has been vaccinated, Barker said he is more concerned for the health and safety of the university’s older faculty and staff.

“It just shows a lack of respect and care for the hard working staff,” he said.

Though the university has not mandated that its students get vaccinated, it has incentivized the vaccine by offering drawings of cash and prizes. And in a town hall on Tuesday to discuss the university’s COVID-related plans, President Eric Barron strongly encouraged the Penn State community to receive the vaccine.

“While we are not currently requiring vaccinations, Penn State is not impartial when it comes to getting vaccinated,” Barron said. “The university’s stance is that everyone who can get a vaccine should do so as soon as possible to obtain very high vaccination rates on all Penn State campuses.”

Trenton Rawdan, 22, is an upcoming first-year law student at Penn State Law. Rawdan received his undergraduate degree from the College of Idaho, which he said is located in a very conservative area with low vaccination rates.

“I’m coming from a place where this kind of (anti-vaccine) narrative is already widespread,” Rawdan said. “And so I thought that I was coming to a place that would be a little bit more accepting and aware. ... I was surprised that something like this had been mandated yet, though granted, a lot of other institutions have not made this mandate.”

So far in Pennsylvania, more than 30 universities — such as Bucknell, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, Swarthmore and Penn — have imposed a COVID vaccine requirement, along with hundreds nationwide.

By not mandating the coronavirus vaccine, Rawdan said, the university is “undermining (itself) as an academic institution.”

Penn State freshman Sydni Engel is currently taking summer classes at Penn State, where she lives in an unrenovated dorm building in East Halls. Unlike the renovated buildings with air conditioning and other updated features, East Halls’ older buildings have communal bathrooms — a point of concern for Engel and her family.

“(My mom) doesn’t want me using communal bathrooms because of the delta variant,” Engel said. “She wants me to be in a renovated dorm.”

Engel said she is concerned about having to quarantine and miss classes, along with the virus’ unknown long-term effects.

Engel’s friend, Sydney Holender, is worried that the new variant of the coronavirus will jeopardize their freshman year, shutting down Penn State’s traditional social activities like tailgates, football games and rushing for Greek life — something that mandating the vaccine might prevent.

“Getting the vaccine is not hurting anyone,” Holender said. “I mean, everyone has different beliefs, but realistically, it’s not. It’s not gonna kill you to get the vaccine. It’s protecting you, and it’s protecting others.”

Conversely, freshman Harry Lewis said that despite being vaccinated himself, he doesn’t think the university should issue any types of mandates — masks or vaccines.

“I, pretty much for the most part, support vaccines,” Lewis said. “But I also support other citizens in the United States (should be able to) believe what they want to.”

In an update to the university this week, Barron wrote that the university may change some of its approaches as the fall semester unfolds. The mask mandate was a shift in policy last week in response to rising COVID-19 cases and the surging delta variant.

“As we have done from the beginning of the pandemic, we will continue to monitor conditions closely and adjust our mitigation strategies depending on the state of the virus,” Barron wrote.

Penn State classes start Aug. 23. For more information on Penn State’s COVID-19 plan, visit virusinfo.psu.edu.

This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Penn State students share concerns about university’s lack of COVID-19 vaccine mandate."