WMU faces calls for a vaccine mandate

Western Michigan University is facing a growing chorus of calls to reconsider its vaccination policy before students return to campus this month.

Currently, the school is strongly recommending students and staff get vaccinated against COVID-19, but not actually requiring it. That’s even as other schools in the state announce vaccination requirements for their own students and staff.

Now, the university’s faculty union has joined the call for a campus-wide vaccine mandate. The WMU-AAUP issued an open letter to WMU’s leadership urging them to do “the right thing.”

“As the pandemic continues to rage, fueled by low vaccination rates, we are writing with the same urgent message: please help enact a vaccination requirement at WMU,” the letter reads.

A spokesperson for the university told WOOD TV 8 that it will not change its policy, but that it has many safety protocols in place to ensure COVID-19 doesn’t spread on campus.

Those protocols didn’t prevent COVID-19 from spreading last school year. The university reported more than 1,500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among its students, staff, and faculty during an ongoing outbreak that lasted the entire school year.

[WOOD]