Two professors are asking LSU’s Faculty Senate to call on the university to require its 34,000 students in Baton Rouge to receive COVID-19 vaccinations before returning to campus for in-person classes next fall.
The Faculty Senate will discuss the resolution Thursday afternoon. It calls on LSU to add the COVID-19 vaccine to a list of mandatory immunizations for students that includes vaccinations for measles, mumps and other diseases.
The professors, who teach in the College of Music and Dramatic Arts, cited the growing number of universities around the country that are requiring vaccines, and they assert that numerous LSU faculty members have expressed support for the requirement.
Earlier LSU President Tom Galligan announced that the school could not require vaccinations given that federal regulators approved the COVID vaccines for emergency use without completing full safety investigations. Dr. Jim Henderson, president of the University of Louisiana System, cited the same reason in saying that he did not plan to require vaccinations before students return in the fall.
Galligan and Henderson both said they were strongly encouraging the tens of thousands of students in their systems to get the COVID vaccines and that they were considering other precautions like requiring masks or COVID testing.
The Louisiana Legislature and the Louisiana Department of Health normally set vaccine requirements, and neither has mandated vaccination for COVID-19.
LSU faculty members have raised concerns about whether classrooms have adequate ventilation, especially since the windows do not open in some of them. They also are worried about social distancing since LSU is scheduling full rosters of students even though some students will not be vaccinated.
Meanwhile the interim president of Louisiana State University is withdrawing his name from the search for a permanent system leader. Tom Galligan announced his decision Tuesday amid criticism for the school’s response to a widespread sexual misconduct scandal.
