State College Borough Council criticizes PSU, throws support behind students who want mandated vaccine
State College’s borough council formally threw its support behind Penn State students urging the university to require the COVID-19 vaccine, with one council member implying the university’s decision-makers must not care about the community.
Council President Jesse Barlow penned an open letter, which he read aloud during Monday’s council meeting, that expressed “strong support” for students’ and faculty’s calls for a vaccine mandate. His letter echoed the main points outlined by two student government groups, which released their own joint letter Friday to renew calls for a vaccine requirement.
Council voted to unanimously support Barlow’s letter, with several council members choosing to speak out on the issue.
“I am tired of hearing magical thinking about medicine, from a major university with a major hospital and med school attached to it,” Councilwoman Theresa Lafer said. “So our students somehow will not get sick, and they will not bring this back to the people living in the community — that’s nonsense. Clearly, the people who make this decision don’t live in this community and do not care about this community. Penn State, at its most unneighborly.”
In April, the University Park Undergraduate Association — UPark’s undergrad student government — voted on a formal resolution to recommend the university require the COVID-19 vaccine. In May, Penn State’s faculty senate followed suit and offered a complementary resolution.
Instead, however, the university opted to “heavily incentivize” the vaccine by offering weekly drawings of cash and prizes, instead of requiring it. It’s not known how effective that practice has been, as the university has not yet released the preliminary results of anonymous polls that sought to estimate students’ vaccination rates.
But with surging COVID-19 cases nationwide — weekly cases more than quintupled from the week ending June 30 and the week ending July 30 — concern remains that an influx of unvaccinated students to Centre County could lead to another rise in COVID-19 cases.
Barlow’s letter quoted directly from students’ Friday letter: “The time to act is now. There must be ample time for those who remain unvaccinated to become at least partially vaccinated by the start of Fall Semester. We have a duty to protect our communities and all those who belong in the Penn State community, and requiring vaccinations will ensure just that.”
Barlow added himself: “We could not agree more.”
Penn State declined to respond on the record to a Tuesday morning request seeking comment, pointing out the university has a virtual town hall scheduled at 4 p.m. Tuesday to address its COVID-19 response.
Borough council members weren’t the only ones to join the mandate chorus, either. State High student Clarissa Theiss, a student representative to council, explained at Monday’s meeting that Penn State’s COVID-19 cases previously had a significant impact on State College Area School District moving fully remote.
“So a reminder to Penn State students as they’re coming back — and faculty — to mask up when you should. Get vaccinated,” she said. “SCASD really appreciates it because it guarantees that we have a chance of having a semi-normal school year, which we are all really looking forward to.”
The vaccine has been repeatedly shown to be effective in fighting the pandemic. According to CDC data aggregated Monday by CNN, less than 0.004% of fully vaccinated people had a breakthrough case that led to hospitalization. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to health policy, also found that more than 90% of cases — and more than 95% of hospitalizations and deaths — have come from the unvaccinated, based on available data.
More than 30 universities in Pennsylvania — and more than 600 nationwide — have moved forward with a vaccine mandate. The same holds true for half the Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Rutgers.
Councilman Peter Marshall said Monday it would be “irresponsible” for Penn State not to require the vaccine. Fellow Councilman Evan Myers added that the university and community should remain open — “because we know how to solve the problem; people need to get vaccinated.” However, the borough does not currently require staff receive the vaccination.
Lafer succinctly summed up her thoughts in her closing.
“I devoutly hope that the powers that be will pay attention to the students, the faculty and the surrounding community for a change,” she said. “And try — try very hard — to think about science and medicine, which are supposed to be their bailiwick, to make this decision.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 1:30 PM.
