Associate Professor Lydia Ray learned about Columbus State University\u2019s plan for returning to campus in a one-on-one meeting with the university\u2019s president. He told her what she didn\u2019t expect to hear: that both unvaccinated individuals and vaccinated individuals could return to campus without having to wear masks in the classrooms, and there would most likely be no vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was a moment of frustration for me,\u201d Ray said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For her, this announcement hit close to home. Her son is ineligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine because of his age, and she doesn\u2019t want to unknowingly infect him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet with the state \u2014 and country \u2014 resuming some semblance of normalcy following months of lockdowns, social distancing and mask mandates, others believe that a vaccine mandate would go too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robert Boyd, a junior at the University of Georgia, doesn\u2019t believe a vaccine mandate is a good option for students. He trusts the updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that vaccinated individuals don\u2019t need to wear masks<\/a>, but he said he would feel safer if people would wear masks inside of classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel like anybody should be able to tell anyone what to do with their body,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cBut I think you should be respectful of other people and, if you aren\u2019t vaccinated, you should wear a mask in public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These conversations come as universities across the state prepare to welcome thousands of students back<\/a> to campus in the fall. After a year of Zoom lectures and hybrid schedules, some Georgia universities are planning for back-to-normal operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fall return confronts students with questions over how to approach the year: Do I wear a mask? Why should I? And what are my university\u2019s rules about vaccinations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normal operations also mean busier classrooms. Some professors will teach in front of a packed class, not knowing who is vaccinated and who isn\u2019t, where COVID-19 could spread between unvaccinated individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI teach 300 people in a room where you don\u2019t have a foot between you and the next person,\u201d said Dr. Janet Frick, a psychology professor at the University of Georgia who supports a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Frick recently began teaching an in-person summer course in Athens<\/a>, and she said that approximately less than 10% of her students are wearing masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frick does believe a return to full in-person instruction \u201cmakes sense\u201d as long as the community numbers of COVID-19 infections remain low. She supports a vaccine mandate out of concern for the safety of her students \u2014 and for the greater Athens community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think the safety level both on campus and in the Athens community would be much better if there were a vaccine mandate, just like we have for dozens of other vaccines,\u201d Frick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, the University System of Georgia, the governing body of the state\u2019s 26 institutions of higher learning, updated its guidance on masks so that \u201cfully vaccinated individuals can resume campus classes and other activities without wearing a mask. Unvaccinated individuals are strongly encouraged to continue wearing a face covering while inside campus buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also issued a statement which \u201cstrongly encourages vaccines,\u201d but does not mandate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile the [COVID-19] vaccines are safe and effective, it is an individual decision to receive one and will not be required to be a part of our campuses,\u201d the USG said in a statement<\/a> on its website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, it\u2019s basically an honor system. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can choose to wear or forgo a mask based on their preference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision strays from how several private universities in the state plan to handle pandemic precautions in the fall. Emory University<\/a> will require all students to be immunized for COVID-19, \u201cwith exemptions for those with medical conditions or strong personal objections.\u201d Agnes-Scott College<\/a> will require all students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have a documented medical or religious exemption. Morehouse College<\/a> and Spelman College<\/a> are also requiring vaccination for members of the university community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nation\u2019s largest university system, in California, also plans to mandate vaccines for all personnel, from students to staff, if they want to return to campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ray, the associate professor at Columbus State, had hoped that the USG might make the same call. When she read the USG\u2019s general policy on immunization, she wondered what was preventing them from requiring COVID-19 vaccines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That policy allows for vaccine mandates during an epidemic, though the Board of Regents has not mandated vaccination against COVID-19 so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I read that policy, I was surprised,\u201d Ray<\/a> said. \u201cThe USG [policy] explicitly allows for immunization requirements if there is an epidemic. And this is not even an epidemic; this is a pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gov. Brian Kemp\u2019s May 25 executive order<\/a> may explain the USG\u2019s hesitancy to mandate vaccines. The \u201cProhibition of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports\u201d prohibits state agencies and properties from requiring vaccine passports, and prohibits state employers from having different rules for employees based on vaccination status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the order doesn\u2019t explicitly address university vaccination policies, it makes the governor\u2019s stance on vaccine mandates known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday\u2019s executive order makes clear that vaccine passports will not be utilized in the state government,\u201d Kemp told reporters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While vaccinated people have protection against the virus that causes COVID-19, they still may be able to spread the virus to others, even if they do not have symptoms, according to the CDC<\/a>. Unvaccinated people can still spread the virus to others, and without a mask requirement, some unvaccinated individuals may stop wearing masks indoors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n UGA student Hunter Street is excited for a full return to campus. An in-person learning environment with the ability to have conversations with professors and peers before and after class allows for better learning, he said, compared to clicking the red \u201cend\u201d button on a Zoom call when class ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Boyd is excited for an in-person return to campus, busy lecture halls and classrooms will be an adjustment for him and for other students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of people coming in and out, different groups of classes leaving behind their germs,\u201d Boyd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither Street or Boyd are vaccinated yet, although Boyd plans on receiving the vaccine in the near future. Boyd currently plans on wearing a mask in the fall, and Street said that whether or not he wears a mask in class will depend on whether social distancing is possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, faculty members such as Ray are worried about exposing their family members who may be ineligible to receive a vaccine. She said the thought of potentially spreading it to her child is worrisome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn a classroom full of students, I won\u2019t know who is vaccinated and who is not,\u201d Ray said. \u201cThat will impact my ability to feel free to teach in a classroom face-to-face, and it will impact my morale as a faculty member.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Ray and Frick are some of the over 3,200 USG stakeholders who signed a petition<\/a> requesting that the USG require its institutions to add COVID-19 vaccinations to its lists of required immunizations for students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The petition, organized by the Georgia Tech Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, was presented to the Chancellor and the Board of Regents on June 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRelying on an honor system<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No other option\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n