Restricting the unvaccinated
While hundreds of colleges and universities said they would require students to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination before they could return to campus, one West Virginia school stopped short of a mandate by taking a different approach, targeting unvaccinated students financially and socially. It may prove to be effective.
West Virginia Wesleyan College, a private school in Buckhannon, W.Va., announced a new policy: Any student not providing proof of a vaccination will be charged a nonrefundable fee of $750 to cover the costs of required weekly testing by school officials.
The school also posted a notice that unvaccinated students “will be limited in the use of facilities and other indoor venues for the protection of the health and safety of the campus community.” Students, faculty and staff who are unvaccinated will also be required to wear masks indoors and maintain social distancing.
The school’s policy offers a compromise to a vaccine mandate adopted by hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide in hopes of returning to in-person classroom instruction and a normal college experience. It offers an alternative, albeit a strict and expensive one, for students who oppose getting a vaccine for religious, medical or other reasons. For those who refuse for reasons other than religious or medical, the fee and restrictions could push them to reconsider and get the shot.
For students who test positive for COVID-19 or are exposed to it, the college plans to provide a 48-hour window of “contained housing,” after which students will be responsible for making off-campus housing arrangements until they are cleared to return to campus by a medical professional. The school will also offer all classes online.
The school, in hopes of keeping its students, faculty and staff safe, is taking a strict and proactive approach in hopes of preventing a spread of the COVID delta variant that is surging throughout the country.
A fully vaccinated student body and staff would be the best course of action, but officials are allowing for alternatives and placing a good deal of the responsibility on those who are unvaccinated. It should give unvaccinated students a reason to rethink their hesitance in doing the right thing for themselves and their college community.