Rutgers Professors: We Should Be Included In Vaccine Mandate

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Hundreds of Rutgers professors — including those in the faculty union — have a message to school administration: We should be required to get the coronavirus vaccine, too.

However, Rutgers University seems unlikely to agree to their request, saying Monday that 97 percent of Rutgers professors have already gotten the shot, so a vaccine mandate for teachers is not necessary.

In March of this year, Rutgers became the first college or university in the nation to require students show proof of coronavirus vaccination in order to return to on-campus classes and dorms. Since then, hundreds of other colleges have followed with their own vaccine mandates, including Princeton, Harvard and Stanford.

However, unlike Princeton, Rutgers is not requiring faculty or staff be vaccinated as well.

On Friday, a coalition of Rutgers professors presented this petition to Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway, asking that all Rutgers faculty and staff be put under the mandate. They say anyone who works at Rutgers, from a professor to a dining hall staffer, should be required to get the vaccine.

More than 700 people have signed the petition.

"It was only universal vaccination that got rid of polio, smallpox, etc., and I believe only universal vaccination will get rid of COVID," said Troy Shinbrot, a biomedical engineering professor who helped launch the petition, and is also a member of the Rutgers faculty union. "It is bizarre to imagine that requiring vaccinations of one group (students), but not others (e.g. faculty), will make Rutgers safe."

The professors asked that Holloway get back to them Tuesday with a response.

But on Monday, Rutgers spokeswoman Dory Devlin said Rutgers will not be changing its position, and will still only require students present proof of vaccination. This is because Rutgers professors already have very high rates of vaccination, she said.

"Our records indicate that (the Rutgers faculty union) have responded responsibly, and our most up-to-date records indicate that 97 percent of them are either fully, partially or waived from vaccination," said Devlin. "Given these statistics, among the regular faculty, there is no reason to impose a mandate."

It is not immediately clear how she got that 97 percent number, and Shinbrot said he was skeptical it was that high.

"Plus if it is true, what is the problem with making it mandatory if almost everyone is vaccinated anyhow?" he asked.

18 Rutgers students sue school over vaccine mandate

Classes start Sept. 1, and so far, more than 95 percent of students have presented proof of vaccination, said Rutgers President Holloway in this Aug. 11 update.

Also, last week he extended the vaccine requirement to include any Rutgers employee who works in healthcare or public safety, such as Rutgers campus police.

However, just Monday, Children’s Health Defense along with 18 Rutgers students filed this lawsuit in federal court against Rutgers over the vaccine mandate. Their key argument is that Rutgers is violating the students' right to informed consent and their right to refuse unwanted medical treatments.

In May, hundreds of Rutgers students protested the vaccine mandate with a rally outside Brower Commons; Republican lawmakers such as state Sen. Mike Testa and GOP governor candidate Phil Rizzo spoke.

Rutgers' faculty union supports mandatory vaccines for professors

Chemistry professor Alan Goldman wrote the petition. He and Shinbrot are both members of the Rutgers faculty union, called the American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT).

"The virus is particularly well spread into the air through talking," said Goldman. "The most typical set-up in a classroom involves the professor, projecting his/her voice, facing the students. If there were one person in that classroom who should be vaccinated, it would be the professor."

"Certainly there is no good reason for the professor to not be vaccinated," he added. "Literally every colleague that I have discussed this with has been very supportive."

At the April 14 Rutgers Board of Governor’s meeting, Holloway remarked that Rutgers could not immediately mandate faculty vaccinations due to labor-management limitations.

However, by May 19, the Rutgers faculty union said they support requiring all professors be vaccinated. This is the union that represents roughly 8,600 Rutgers full-time professors, post-doctorate teachers and graduate students.

"We welcome the announcement that Rutgers students will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19," read this statement from the union's executive council. "We endorse a similar requirement for full-time faculty, postdocs and graduate workers represented by our union in order to work on campus."

Other university staff, such as custodians or food service workers, are represented by as many as 18 other unions. Those unions have not given their support for mandatory vaccination.

Vaccination rates are much lower among those 21,000 other university workers who are not professors, said Alan Maass, a spokesman for the Rutgers faculty union.

Overall, Rutgers said vaccine rates for all faculty and staff are "approaching 80 percent."

But Goldman said that that figure only means vaccination rates are very low among staff that are not professors.

"If it is true that Rutgers 'regular faculty' already have a 97 percent rate of vaccination, and if the overall rate among non-mandated employees is about 80 percent, then the rate among non-mandated employees is therefore even lower," said Goldman. "The COVID virus can be spread by unvaccinated people regardless of whether or not they are 'regular faculty.'"

Alan Hyde, a professor at Rutgers Law School, said he thinks Holloway's interpretation is wrong, and that he can indeed make vaccines mandatory for professors. Hyde is also a member of the faculty union.

"No one’s holding anyone down and sticking needles in their arms," said Hyde. "But an employer can definitely condition your working there on getting a vaccination, just like the employer can condition work on wearing safety equipment or clocking in at 8 a.m.”

Shinbrot said Tuesday he was "unsurprised" school administration declined to include professors in the mandate.

He said he hopes Rutgers broadens the mandate as coronavirus cases increase.

"My suspicion is that as more of our peer institutions do the sensible thing and as the virus continues to not go away, they will eventually do the right thing; all we can do is to try to get them to do so sooner rather than later."

Related: Hundreds Turn Up To Protest Rutgers' Vaccine Mandate For Students (May 21)

GOP Lawmaker Said She Plans To Fight Rutgers' Vaccine Mandate (her bill did not get any co-signers) (March 29)

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