University of Memphis backtracks COVID-19 vaccination requirement
Weeks after implementing a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employees, the University of Memphis has rescinded the mandate, becoming one of several Tennessee institutions caught between state laws, state law exemptions, federal executive orders and federal judge orders on the matter.
Wednesday, Tennessee Comptroller’s Office took back the ability for roughly 70 entities in the state to retain their mask or vaccine mandates — a power previously granted under the state’s new sweeping ban on COVID-19 regulations.
That decision came a day after two federal judges issued injunctions blocking President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate, arguing Biden overstepped his bounds by circumventing the Congress. The mandate asks all employers with more than 100 employees to implement vaccine requirements or regular testing.
The new state law — approved by lawmakers during a whirlwind threeday session in October — sets a stringent standard for publicly enacted mask mandates and abolishes all vaccine mandates. But entities at risk of losing federal funding for not complying with the federal vaccine requirements can apply for exemptions from the Comptroller’s Office.
The U of M was one of the first entities granted the exemption and instituted the vaccine requirement Nov. 16, a few weeks after alerting employees to the likelihood the university would be required to mandate COVID-19 vaccines under the executive order.
Outgoing President M. David Rudd has been outspoken to the state about COVID-19 safety measures and has written the state at least twice this year about vaccines specifically.
At the start of the year, when vaccines were not widely available, he wrote to Gov. Bill Lee requesting professors be aligned with K-12 teachers in vaccination priority status. At the start of the school year in August, he wrote to Lee asking the state add the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of vaccines already required for college students.
“I hope you will give serious consideration to this request, as I firmly believe it an essential step in protecting the safety and well-being of all those on college and university campuses in Tennessee. It has never been more important for us to follow the medical advice from credible authorities we have trusted for decades,” Rudd wrote.
In the letter sent to faculty, staff and student employees Wednesday evening, the U of M cited the change at the state comptroller’s office and rescinded the requirement, but said “this situation could change again in the coming weeks.”
“Since this order could be reinstated in the future,” the notice said, “all employees are encouraged to continue to use HR’S secure upload site to submit evidence of vaccination, voluntarily. Human Resources will also continue to review and process medical and religious exemption requests...”
The U of M is still encouraging COVID-19 vaccination, hosting vaccination sites on campus and will still provide eligible employees with two hours of leave to get vaccinated, per the notice.
The university has not previously reported any information about how many of its employees are vaccinated.
Also in Memphis, private Rhodes College and Christian Brothers University received exemptions from the comptroller’s office to keep up the vaccine requirements that have been in place since the start of their semesters this past August.
The institutions did not respond to Commercial Appeal inquiries Wednesday.