Penn State students, faculty renew calls for requiring the COVID-19 vaccine in separate open letters
Penn State faculty and students have renewed calls for the university to require the COVID-19 vaccine, writing in separate open letters that the university has a duty to protect the community as the Delta variant rapidly spreads nationwide.
Both the respective grad and undergrad student governments at University Park published a joint open letter Friday that emphasized the administration should follow the science and not the politics. Coalition for a Just University (CJU), a faculty-based group, started a petition Sunday that doubled as an open letter and, as of Monday afternoon, included the signatures of 580 faculty members and 310 community members.
“During the 2020-2021 academic year, Penn State was near the very top of the list of U.S. universities with the most COVID-19 cases,” read the open letter from faculty. “We do not want to see such high rates of infection again.”
Asked Monday whether the university would consider a vaccine requirement or other changes in its coronavirus policies (e.g. only the unvaccinated must mask indoors), a spokesperson pointed to a virtual town hall scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday. The hourlong meeting, featuring university President Eric Barron and four others, is set to address Penn State’s COVID response.
It is unknown how the university’s policies might change, if at all. But both faculty and students have been consistent — and persistent — about their desire for a vaccine mandate.
In April, the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) passed a formal resolution to support a vaccine requirement. And, in May, the faculty senate followed suit by passing a complementary resolution that echoed the students’ hope.
Still, the university administration instead opted to “heavily incentivize” the vaccine, not requiring it but offering cash prizes and gifts during weekly drawings for those who do. It is not known how effective that practice has been, as the university has only recently conducted anonymous COVID polls to estimate the vaccine rate — and has not yet shared those results publicly.
“As a highly acclaimed research university, we have a responsibility to treat this topic as an issue of public health, and not weaponize it for political matters,” read the joint letter from the student governments. “As an educational institution, we must commit to the factual exigence of the topic at hand and assist in the communication of scientifically backed information.
“The science and data are clear — widespread vaccinations are the most effective strategy to stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus and ensuring a safe return to campus.”
The student governments’ open letter was signed by UPUA President Erin Boas, UPUA Vice President Najee Rodriguez and President of the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) in Schonn Franklin.
Nationally, the White House has said it will not impose a vaccine mandate and, in the commonwealth, Gov. Tom Wolf has said that such mandates are up to individual colleges and universities. So far in Pennsylvania, more than 30 universities — such as Bucknell, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, Swarthmore and Penn — have imposed a COVID vaccine requirement, while more than 600 have followed suit nationally.
In the Big Ten, seven universities currently have a mandate of some kind: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Rutgers. The American College Health Association also recommends COVID vaccination requirements.
“Penn State policy requires all students to have the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and all students living on campus must be vaccinated for meningitis,” read the faculty’s open letter, which outlined several additional recommendations. “In contrast, the vaccination for COVID-19, a disease that has killed well over 600,000 people in the U.S. and more than 4 million worldwide, is being presented as a ‘personal choice.’”
Centre County, home to Penn State’s flagship university, currently boasts only a moderate spread of the coronavirus. According to the state Department of Health, the county had just 25.9 cases per 100,000 residents last week. Infections are on the rise — but remain a far cry from last fall, when the county had more than 200 infections alone on one day in September.
The reasons for local concern can be attributed to a few factors. For one, at this time last year, COVID cases in the county remained low. But that changed once Penn State classes started; experts said it wouldn’t be fair to point to the university as the singular reason for an increase, but a government study found a significant COVID increase in counties containing colleges with at least 20,000 students. The Delta variant is also more transmissible — and believed to be more dangerous — and can still be spread by those who are vaccinated.
Vaccinations still aren’t for everyone, either. Children younger than 12 still cannot be vaccinated, and some high-risk patients — such as some who receive immunosuppressive treatment — cannot receive the shot(s).
At this time last year, Coalition for a Just University estimated that Penn State would see 2,500 cases in fall 2020 in addition to two student deaths. The university panned the group’s report, saying it failed to “properly account for critical factors like contact tracing and adaptive surveillance approaches.”
Instead, there were about 5,000 student COVID-19 cases in the fall. Two known students have died of COVID-related complications, although neither death came in the fall. (The most recent reportedly came over the weekend in Neil Patel, a 20-year-old who was hospitalized in April.)
That same group, CJU, is now once again telling Penn State that it’s not doing enough to stop infections.
“As Penn State faculty, we are eager to welcome students back to campus for the start of the Fall 2021 semester,” their letter read, “but we are deeply concerned that our university is unprepared to handle the ongoing increase in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the more contagious Delta variant.”
Penn State classes start Aug. 23.
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 4:25 PM.
