Brown University has joined a small but growing number of US colleges and universities that require students to get vaccinated COVID-19 before attending classes in person and participating in other campus activities.
Brown President Christina Paxson announced in a letter Tuesday that all Ivy League school students will be welcomed back to campus in the fall and invited to live in the Providence, Rhode Island, university residence halls, provided that they have been vaccinated.
The university has not yet implemented a system to verify students’ vaccination status, but more information will be provided in the summer, Paxson said. It is also still deciding whether to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for Brown employees.
Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts also requires students returning to face-to-face learning for the fall semester to be fully vaccinated on the first day of classes. The university’s goal is to have the maximum number of community members vaccinated to achieve herd immunity on campus, Northeastern Chancellor Ken Henderson said this week.
Northeastern said it will announce what the school needs “in the coming days.” proof of vaccinationMassachusetts law already requires college students to provide proof of immunization against measles, meningitis, and other contagious viruses.
Cornell University, Fort Lewis College, Nova Southeastern University, Roger Williams University, Rutgers University, and St. Edwards University also need COVID-19 shots for students who want to return to campus in the fall.
Legal experts say these institutions are well within their legal rights to require returning students to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, although schools are required by law to grant exemptions for medical and religious beliefs and provide other reasonable accommodations.
It is not yet clear whether individuals who have been vaccinated will be required to wear masks at Brown and Northeastern. But if all goes to plan, this year’s fall semester will “look and feel a lot more like fall 2019 than fall 2020,” Paxson said in her letter.