CU and CSU leaders explain why they are requiring COVID-19 vaccines on their campuses

Students who choose an in-person learning environment do so because they want the full experience of being part of a university community — an experience that has been proven over generations to contribute to students’ academic success and personal growth.

Our campuses shifted to a hybrid model this past year out of concern for public health and under the guidance of our local and state health authorities. We have learned a lot from this experience, and many of the best tools and techniques that got us through the last year will continue to be woven into our classroom and campus operations. But we always intended to resume on-campus, in-person learning as fully and as quickly as possible once vaccines became widely available.

We are now at that point, and this week, both the University of Colorado and Colorado State University systems joined with other colleges and universities around the state to announce that we will require vaccines for on-campus employees and students for fall semester 2021.

We anticipate full approval of one or more vaccines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (vaccines are now available under the

FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization). And of course, the medical and non-medical exemptions allowed under state and federal law will be fully available to our students and employees. But we believe this requirement is an essential step to meet our goal of returning to in-person learning as soon as possible and to the fullest extent possible.

We also know the majority of our students, their families, and our faculty and staff are more than ready to return. Like the rest of the world, they crave a semblance of normalcy.

As research universities, we strongly support the use of vaccination in general as one of the greatest achievements in the history of science and medicine when it comes to preventing serious illness and death. We have long required evidence of vaccination against other infectious diseases, in keeping with state law, and this latest requirement parallels those existing requirements for devastating illnesses such as measles. In short, it is nothing new for us to require vaccines, and our requirements will always have to evolve as public health needs evolve.

Both our universities recognize that an online learning experience is the right choice for many people, and there are many college students who prefer an online option. But an on-campus experience is also the right choice for many people, and our students have navigated unprecedented disruptions to their on-campus life since the onset of COVID-19.

We are grateful to the faculty and staff members who have worked tirelessly to make this last, strange year as manageable and beneficial as possible for our students. And wearegratefultoourstudents and their families who have understood the need for learning and student life to happen differently on college campuses during a time of pandemic. If there is a silver lining, it’s that our students have learned to be more flexible and adaptable — skills that will serve them well — and so have we.

Now, we are ready to bring our campuses fully back to life, and this vaccine requirement is essential for that to

happen.

Tony Frank is chancellor of the Colorado State University System. Mark Kennedy is the president of the University of Colorado System.