Lawmaker Criticizes Rutgers For Still Requiring Masks, COVID Testing

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A New Jersey lawmaker is criticizing Rutgers University for still requiring masks in all classrooms, and COVID testing for non-vaccinated students.

Nearly all school districts in the state, except for Newark, have dropped their indoor mask requirements. And last Monday, Gov. Murphy ended his weekly required testing for non-vaccinated New Jersey school teachers.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said indoor masks are not necessary across much of the U.S. On Aug. 11, the federal health agency released its most relaxed set of guidelines yet on the virus, saying the U.S. is in a "much stronger" place in the pandemic. The CDC also recommends schools stop using the "test to stay" protocol, which is where if someone was exposed to COVID they must submit a negative test before coming back to class.

“It’s embarrassing that our state university, which operates a respected medical school, can be controlled by such an uneducated agenda. It seems like they are bending to the wishes of one particular group, despite the science,” said Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer, a Republican lawmaker from South Jersey (Gloucester County). “Subjecting healthy people to mandatory testing and masking only hinders learning and adds an unnecessary barrier to accessing higher education."

A Rutgers spokeswoman countered that in the next few weeks, the university will welcome back approximately 70,000 students from across the country and the world, as undergrads flood campus dorms, classrooms, labs and student apartments — and students will be in extremely close contact with each other.

Rutgers is trying to prevent a potential COVID surge, she said.

"Requiring that our students be vaccinated and that they wear masks in classrooms is a sensible policy to mitigate the potential surge in COVID cases that might otherwise occur with so many students coming back into our classrooms," said Rutgers spokeswoman Dory Devlin.

Two years ago, Rutgers University made history when it became the first college in America to require students get the coronavirus vaccine. About 97 percent of students/staff complied. Students and employees exempted from the vaccine/booster requirement make up just over three percent of the 100,000-plus Rutgers community, including students, professors and staff.

Also continuing this fall, Rutgers is still requiring this group of the unvaccinated to test weekly: The unvaccinated who work in clinical or heathcare settings must take a COVID test twice a week, and the rest are required to test once a week.

While many U.S. colleges have now dropped indoor masking and testing, Georgetown University is like Rutgers, and will still require masks indoors when classes resume next month.

Princeton University no longer requires indoor masks, although individual professors are allowed to request them in their classrooms. Also in late July, Princeton announced booster shots are no longer required.

Assemblywoman Sawyer is not the only person criticizing Rutgers for keeping the mask mandates and testing in place:

"Rutgers completely ignores the newest CDC guidance on masking mandates, vaccination and testing policies," said Monmouth County Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, also a Republican. "Our state institutions of higher education should be striving to lead the way on COVID protocols, but instead they’re lagging behind the rest of the world — including an absurd masking policy that calls for masks in classrooms and libraries … but nowhere else. Those in charge of inflicting these policies should be ashamed. They are insisting on boosters for students who may have had a negative vaccine reaction — or who just had COVID recently and are protected by antibodies. We have heard some truly tragic circumstances occur with students due to these illogical mandates.”

What Assemblywoman Sawyer most seems to take issue with is the distinction Rutgers makes between unvaccinated and vaccinated students: When the first day of classes begin on Sept. 6, Rutgers will still require students show proof of full vaccination (including booster shots) before they attend an indoor event such as a game or a play. Students who are unvaccinated have to present a negative COVID test taken 72 hours before the event.

“The CDC says discriminating between the vaccinated and unvaccinated is illogical because of breakthrough infections and the high level of COVID-immunity acquired from past infections," said Sawyer. "But Rutgers is doubling down and continues to fly in the face of common sense and our new reality ... (Rutgers) is discriminating based on vaccination status.”

While the CDC did not exactly say that, the CDC has removed some differences between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, now saying that the unvaccinated do not need to quarantine if they have been exposed to the virus.

Also, in June the CDC said the vaccinated can still get coronavirus and spread the virus to others. However, those who are vaccinated are much less likely to experience severe symptoms than people who are unvaccinated.

In places where COVID levels are high, the CDC recommends that everyone (vaccinated or not) should wear masks indoors. The CDC also still strongly encourages Americans to be vaccinated for the virus and said on Aug. 11 that they encourage Americans to get all booster shots and new vaccines that come on the market.

Last week: Rutgers To Continue COVID Vaccine, Mask Mandates This Fall