Schools require masks and vaccines for all

During the peak campus COVID-19 outbreak last November, 314 students were in quarantine or isolation.

As of Sept. 15, there are two such cases.

According to administration, a vaccination rate of nearly 90% helped bring about this change.

On Aug. 4, CSB/SJU administration announced that all students, faculty and staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with the first dose administered before their arrival on campus. Community members had the opportunity to request an exemption from this requirement.

A week later, on Aug. 12, administration also put a temporary masking policy in place, requiring mask wearing in buildings on campus and on the Link, regardless of vaccination status. A pandemic planning committee comprised of faculty members from across the institutions evaluates the policy weekly by analyzing the county COVID-19 transmission rate, the current positive case count on campus and the vaccination rate of students, faculty and staff. As of Sept. 15, 86% of students and 89% of employees are fully vaccinated. There is not yet an exact threshold of vaccination and case count to remove the masks, but the committee is working with the Minnesota Department of Health to determine when the mask mandate can lift.

The vaccination requirement and temporary masking requirement this year are in place in hopes of a year of normalcy after a 2021-2020 school year rife with restrictions due to high transmission rates on campus and no vaccine available yet.

“We believe this is in the best interest of the entire campus community because we want to try and keep everyone as safe as possible so the student experience can be positive and back to normal operations,” Mike Connolly, Dean of Students, said.

Last school year masks were required at all times on campus, many classes were held via Zoom and group gatherings had strict capacity limits with social distancing in place. The last month of the first semester saw over half of campus return home to learn remotely as restrictions tightened following an influx of COVID-19 cases in Minnesota and on campus.

With the vaccine becoming available in spring of 2021, COVID-19 restrictions on campus eased and masks were no longer required over the summer. The spread of the Delta variant and return of students to campus ushered in another mask requirement, along with the vaccine requirement.

Student reactions have been generally optimistic toward the requirements because they see it as a way to have a year of in-person events, large gatherings and sports games—a year of normalcy.

“I was relieved to hear that there was going to be a vaccine mandate. I think it promotes the health and safety of our community and ensures that we will be able to have the most normal year possible,” Olivia Hoff, CSB senior, said.

The school year has been off to this “normal” start with in- person events back in full swing, such as a packed home football game and an involvement fair attracting more than 1,200 students. Last year COVID-19 restrictions reduced the football season to two scrimmages with limited spectators and the involvement fair was adapted to a virtual format.

The vaccine requirement has been a push for some students to receive the vaccine when they otherwise would have opted to go without the jab.

“It got the people on the edge to be vaccinated, just getting our numbers up,” said Sydney Burns, CSB first year.

Noah Bermeister, a first year at SJU, was one student who received the vaccine after learning of the requirement. Bermeister said he was scrambling to get the vaccine and had to drive an hour for his appointment.

“I was not too happy about it,” he said. “I didn’t really want to get the vaccine and [the schools] making me get the vaccine… I didn’t think that was fair.”

Other community members echoed Bermeister’s sentiments, with some comments on the CSB/SJU social media posts announcing the vaccine requirement that express disappointment over the decision and call it restrictive.

Despite some pushback, administration maintains that having a high percentage of the community vaccinated against COVID-19 is key to providing a vibrant college experience to students.

“We heard feedback from our students and parents very clearly; they wanted our students back in person, in the classroom and in their residence halls. We have been working all summer to ensure that we can provide this experience… It became clear that the best way to protect our community and provide that robust experience was to ensure that our community was vaccinated,” Casey Gordon, COVID-19 lead at CSB/SJU, said via email.

With a vaccination rate close to 90%, this experience seems in reach.

“Students do everything they can to keep our community as safe as possible, and ultimately it comes down to our own personal responsibility,” Connolly said. “If we can do our best to keep one another safe in that Johnnie Bennie spirit, I think we will be in a great spot.”