KU students, faculty call for COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Nearly 40 people gathered at KU to push administrators to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine on campus.

By

State News

September 13, 2021 - 9:04 AM

Students, faculty and staff members rally Sunday in front of Wescoe Hall on the University of Kansas campus to call on administrators to impose a vaccine mandate on campus. Photo by (Lucy Peterson for Kansas Reflector)

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas students, faculty and staff members called on administrators to mandate vaccines on campus during a rally Sunday, expressing concerns about the ongoing surge of the delta variant of COVID-19.

Nearly 40 people gathered at the university’s Wescoe Beach to push back on the administration’s reluctance to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine for individuals on campus this year. The rally was hosted by the Vaccinate KU coalition, which formed this summer with a Change.org petition urging KU to require vaccines. The petition has garnered 1,118 signatures since it was posted on July 18.

Vaccinate KU presented a list of 11 recommendations to the chiefs of staff for KU chancellor Douglas Girod and provost Barbara Bichelmeyer at the start of the school year, said the coalition’s founder, Sophie Kunin, a senior at KU. Kunin scheduled the Vaccinate KU rally in the shadow of Strong Hall, where Girod, Bichelmeyer and other administrators have offices, because none of the recommendations was implemented.

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