1 University In Fairfield Is Mandating Vaccines. The Other Isn't.

FAIRFIELD, CT — As students at Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University return to town and start the fall semester, both schools are taking precautions to prevent transmission of the coronavirus on campus.

Sacred Heart has mandated that students be vaccinated against the virus, while Fairfield University has not.

However, Fairfield University has required that students disclose their vaccination status, and, “out of an abundance of caution,” all school community members must take a coronavirus test within the first week of the semester, regardless of whether they have received the vaccine, according to Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Anderson. Masks are also mandated indoors on campus.

The spread of the coronavirus throughout Fairfield’s two universities was a source of anxiety for the town in late 2020, prior to the vaccine rollout. By mid-October of last year, the two schools combined had recorded nearly 400 cases.

Fairfield University students living in the beach area were temporarily banned from campus due to an outbreak in mid-October, while those who lived in on-campus communities with high case numbers were required to stay in their rooms or risk expulsion.

The university started fall classes Tuesday, and, as of Sept. 3, more than 90 percent of school community members were either fully or partially vaccinated. Anyone who chooses not to get the vaccine will continue to be tested for the virus throughout the semester. Testing data for Fairfield University had not yet been released Thursday.

As for Sacred Heart University, which had its share of case spikes last fall, the response to the vaccine mandate has been generally positive, according to Executive Director of Public Safety and Government Affairs Gary MacNamara. One or two prospective students chose not to attend Sacred Heart due to the rule, and some other students were granted medical or religious exemptions from the mandate.

Last week, when classes began, nearly 90 percent of full-time undergraduate students were vaccinated, MacNamara said. Masks are mandated indoors and those who are unvaccinated due to an exemption are tested weekly, and face disciplinary measures if they do not comply with the testing.

“It really comes down to monitoring, encouraging students to report if they are feeling sick,” MacNamara said, adding the school wants symptomatic students to get tested as soon as possible to stop an outbreak, and that free testing is available on campus.

As of Thursday, Sacred Heart had recorded 26 positive cases, according to university data.