The Dickinson College Campus in Carlisle, Cumberland County.
Kate Landis / PA Post
Dickinson College joins growing list of schools mandating COVID-19 vaccinations
Dickinson joins nine other Pennsylvania private colleges in making this decision, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is tracking the vaccine mandates. As of Monday, 319 campuses nationwide had imposed this mandate.
By Jan Murphy/PennLive
Kate Landis / PA Post
The Dickinson College Campus in Carlisle, Cumberland County.
(Harrisburg) — Dickinson College in Carlisle is planning for students to return to campus for in-person classes for the 2021-22 academic year and decided the safest way to do that is to require COVID-19 vaccinations.
Dickinson joins nine other Pennsylvania private colleges in making this decision, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is tracking the vaccine mandates. As of Monday, 319 campuses nationwide had imposed this mandate.
Dickinson, which enrolls 2,200 students, plans to require vaccinations for all students living on campus as well as those studying abroad or off-campus unless they seek a religious or medical exemption. Summer resident students also will be required to get their COVID-19 shot before the fall.
The college’s decision is in keeping with a recommendation by the American College Health Association.
“The health and safety of our community has been at the center of all decision-making throughout the pandemic,” said Dickinson College President Margee Ensign in a statement. ”We’re planning for a full return of students this fall to a vibrant campus, and the safest way to do that is with a fully vaccinated student body.”
No decision has been made as to whether faculty and staff will be required to be vaccinated.
Other Pennsylvania higher education institutions that have made vaccinations mandatory for fall enrollment are Bryn Mawr, Drexel University, Haverford College, Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College, Swarthmore College, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania and University of the Sciences, according to the Chronicle’s list.
According to the state Department of Education, there is nothing to preclude private post-secondary institutions from requiring immunizations. However, a spokesman for Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education stated system officials don’t believe they have the legal authority to mandate vaccinations for students or employees. The system oversees the 14 state-owned universities.
Penn State University President Eric Barron recently indicated the university plans to try incentivizing students to get the vaccine to try to get to herd immunity without ruling out making it mandatory, according to a recent story in the Centre Daily Times.
Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher also is being cautious about pursuing a vaccine mandate for students, faculty and staff, citing “multiple potential legal and political roadblocks,” according to a recent story in the University Times, a news source for PItt’s faculty and staff.
Temple University’s website only speaks of opportunities it provides to get the vaccine.
Requiring vaccinations to attend a post-secondary education institution are not new. In fact, the General Assembly passed a law in 2002 requiring all college students living in campus housing in the state of Pennsylvania to be immunized against meningococcal disease or sign a waiver saying they received information on the risks associated with the disease and choose not be vaccinated.
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