By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University will require all student athletes and staff to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15, according to a story from Falcon Media.
BGSU President Rodney Rogers confirmed the development. “That process started yesterday,” he said. “We are requiring that vaccination with exemptions where appropriate.”
He said there are “fairly high vaccination rates on those teams.” The BGSU policy brings it in line with most other MidAmerican Conference schools.
Athletic Director Bob Moosbrugger issued a statement: “Our number one priority has been and always will be the health and safety of our student-athletes. The recent full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine has allowed us to implement this requirement for all members BGSU Athletics. We hope that in addition to the protection the vaccine can provide our teams, we will also serve as a model for others to take this important step in protecting themselves, our University and community, and our seasons of competition.”
This comes as the faculty union, the BSU Faculty Association released a survey of faculty showing overwhelming support for mandating vaccination for BGSU.
Of the more than 700 faculty, 428 responded, and of those 83 percent supported a mandate with 17 percent opposed.
Jackson said given the diversity within the faculty, that was “impressive.”
The faculty also overwhelmingly supported a health exemption with 91 percent approving.
Support for a religious exemption was weaker with only 56 percent saying there should be one.
The medical exemption, Jackson said, is far more straightforward. Get a statement from a doctor.
“There definitely is a greater room for abuse of a religious exemption than there is for a health exemption,” he said. “Whenever you get into matter matters of personal belief and conscience it becomes more complicated.”
Jackson said the union maintains any mandate would be a subject of negotiation, but would not need to be voted on by the membership. The leadership is ready to sign a memorandum of understanding. “I don’t want collective bargaining to be thought of as something that’s slowing the process.”
As of now Ohio State, Kent State, the University of Akron, and, most recently, the University of Toledo and the University of Cincinnati have instituted vaccination mandates.
The BGSU Undergraduate Student Government also voted in favor of a vaccination mandate.
Jackson said most of the faculty’s other concerns, including masking and how to handle a situation when a student refuses to wear a mask. So far, Jackson said, he has not heard of any instances where a student has refused to wear a mask. The university does allow a professor to cancel class if a student will not wear a facial covering and will not leave.
Concerns about maintaining social distancing, however, have not been resolved. “Some of those concerns can’t be solve because the classrooms don’t exist,” Jackson said.
The university’s protocols do not address social distancing, though members of the faculty can encourage three foot separation, and faculty members can maintain a six-foot distance between themselves and students.
Rogers said that at most he’s heard from a very few faculty and students who have opposed the indoor facial covering.
“We’ve had very high compliance across the campus. We believe that’s the appropriate strategy for slowing the spread. Vaccinations are as well, but they’re not foolproof as you see in the national press,” he said.
He deferred any comment on the need for a vaccination mandate.
“We absolutely are consulting with all our constituent groups,” he said “but I’d say, most importantly, consulting with public health officials, medical advice and others to make sure we have a policy and strategy that makes sense from a public health standpoint. That is focused on our guiding principle. That’s certainly focused on the health of the members of our community as well as our students having the opportunity for a high quality education.”
