On Tuesday, Indiana University notified students of changes in the school’s COVID-19 vaccine policy. Students will still largely be required to receive the vaccine before attending classes in the Fall, however, students may now request an exemption for religious or medical reasons or if they plan to be fully remote for the entirety of the semester. Students will also no longer be required to upload documentation proving they are fully vaccinated but will instead be allowed to simply attest that they received the vaccine.
These changes come as the university faces mounting criticism from students, state legislators, and the Indiana Attorney General. A Change.org petition circulating around IU’s campuses asking the university to retract its mandate has now now garnered over 11,000 signatures. The petition states that “This vaccine is not yet FDA approved, and only was intended for emergency use. Attending in person classes is not an emergency.” It continues, “forcing an unapproved vaccine goes against basic human rights, violates the freedom to choose, and jeopardizes the education and employment of many.”
An event has been organized for June 10 at the Indiana Memorial Union to protest the mandate. The event, titled “Rally for Medical Freedom,” will be hosted by The IU Family for Choice, Not Mandates and seeks to “have IU immediately retract the [vaccine] requirement and allow all of us to make our own medical decisions.”
Indiana House and Senate Republicans have also expressed concern over the university’s policy. The state’s Senate GOP caucus recently sent a letter to IU president Michael McRobbie requesting that the university reverse the mandate. The letter states that, “After 14 months of fighting and enduring the COVID-19 war, our state is finally returning to the path of normalcy. Regrettably, decision makers at Indiana University have veered away from that path.” Senate Republicans argue that the “heavy-handed mandate goes against many of the liberties on which our founders built our democratic republic.
Additionally, 19 Republican State Representatives recently sent a letter to Governor Eric Holcomb asking him to intervene and prevent IU from requiring students and staff to get vaccinated. The letter states that “enforcing a mandate that students and faculty accept a vaccine that does not have full FDA approval is unconscionable.” Lawmakers expressed concern that “Students’ classes will be dropped, others will be ostracized from IU, and employees will be terminated per this new policy.” Holcomb, however, stated that he does not plan on intervening.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita also took issue with the mandate, believing that it “runs afoul of state law.” Rokita released a statement saying that IU “unquestionably” violated a recently passed Indiana law barring governmental agencies from demanding vaccine passports “by requiring its students, faculty, and staff to show proof of immunization as a condition of continued attendance or employment.”
It’s currently unclear what, if anything, these changes in IU’s vaccination policy will do to assuage the mandate’s critics.