By Lev D. Zilbermints
When it comes to vaccination against the coronavirus, Rutgers University students seem to have different opinions. One group has submitted a petition with 750+ signatures to Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway, demanding a COVID-19 requirement for faculty and staff, according to the Daily Targum. Meanwhile, a non-profit organization and 18 Rutgers students filed a lawsuit on August 23 against the university, seeking to fight its COVID-19 mandate, according to NJ Advance media.
The opposing viewpoints on the coronavirus vaccination reflect the divide in American society. Democrat-run states such as New York, New Jersey, California have higher vaccination rates than Republican-run states. Florida and Texas are two Republican-run states where both the leadership and the people do not observe wearing masks, social distancing and other preventive measures against COVID-19.
Petition in favor of vaccination
As reported in the August 21, 2021 issue of the Daily Targum, the petition was sponsored by the Rutgers Community for a COVID-Free University, an organization formed this past July by Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology professors Alan Goldman and Robert Boikess and department of Biomedical Engineering professor Troy Shinbrot.
The petition on change.org has as of August 26 gathered 820 signatures and counting. Once it hits 1,000 the petition is more likely to be featured in recommendations!” says the site.
According to the petition, “while Rutgers University was a leader in mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for students returning to campus, the administration is still not requiring vaccinations for on-campus faculty and staff. The same reasons that justify the requirement of vaccination for students also justify such a requirement for everyone else on campus.”
The petition goes on to say that many other universities across the country as well as in New Jersey are requiring vaccinations for faculty as well as students.
“Only when students, faculty and staff are vaccinated can life on campus return to normal … The SARS COV-2 (COVID-19) does not discriminate based on an individual’s position in the university. We urge the Rutgers administration to recognize this, and to hold faculty and staff to the same vaccination standards required as our students,” reads the petition.
As reported by the Daily Targum, Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway said at an April 21 Board of Governors meeting that management limitations were the reason why faculty and staff did not require COVID-19 vaccination. According to the petition, the vaccine mandate was supported by the Rutgers faculty in April.
President Holloway, in an August 18 university-wide email, said that the overall faculty and staff vaccination is 82 percent. Holloway urged those not vaccinated “to do so as soon as possible” at all three campuses – Camden, Newark and Piscataway.
Opposition to Vaccination Mandate
While most faculty and students at Rutgers appear to be in favor of vaccination, a vocal minority is not. NJ Advance Media reported August 16 that a lawsuit was filed in federal court to fight Rutgers University COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Both the Daily Targum and NJ Advance Media reported that the lawsuit was filed by Children’s Health Defense, a non-profit activist group, and 18 Rutgers students. According to the Daily Targum, the student plaintiffs include Peter Cordi and Adriana Pinto, both School of Arts and sciences seniors; Raelynne Miller, a School of Nursing junior; Jake Blake, a School of Engineering sophomore; and Kayla Mateo.
The defendants named in the lawsuit are Rutgers University, the Board of Governors, the Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University President Jonathan Holloway and RBHS Chancellor Brian L. Strom.
Julio Gomez, the lawyer representing the non-profit group and the students, argued in the 105 – page lawsuit that “the policy is not authorized by and federal or state law; it actually conflicts with federal law and is so preempted by federal law; and most importantly, it violates the right to informed consent and to refuse unwanted medical treatment guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and Article I of the Constitution of New Jersey.”
In response, according to the Daily Targum dated August 21, a University spokeswoman said that Rutgers’ position “is consistent with the legal authority supporting this policy.”
“We are committed to creating a safe campus environment in Fall 2021, to support the health and safety for all members of the Rutgers community, the university updated its existing immunization requirements for students to include COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokeswoman said.
Not so, say the plaintiffs.
“Fundamentally, the policy is an affront to human dignity and personal freedom because it violates our basic right to control our bodies. In a free society, all people have the right to decide their own medical treatment – especially to decide what to inject into their bodies. And every person has the right to make that decision voluntarily, free from coercion by anyone, and to be fully informed of the benefits and especially the risks of that decision,” the lawsuit states.
The argument is made by plaintiffs that “Rutgers mandate is beyond its authority under New Jersey law because only our State Legislature, the Governor and the Department of Health have the power to require a particular vaccine for attendance at colleges and universities in New Jersey, and they have not passed a law or regulation requiring COVID-19 vaccines either.”
“Absent legislative action or executive authorization, Rutgers does not have legal authority to require students to take an emergency-use authorized vaccine which is still under investigation and experimental and to make it mandatory for attendance.”
Plaintiffs seek compensation because they believe Rutgers violated their civil rights. They cannot transfer to other universities, because other schools are following Rutgers’ lead in requiring vaccination.
Rutgers has financial ties to Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. The university was selected as a site to conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials for all three manufacturers on its campus.
As reported by the Daily Targum, Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announced in an August 16 email that student compliance with the vaccine requirement has now reached 99.5 percent, which includes approximately 1.2 percent of 71,000 students who received medical or religious exemptions. This comes out to about 852 students.
It is not clear if the plaintiffs are aware that students from kindergarten to twelfth grade are required to be vaccinated against mumps, measles, flu, and other illnesses.
