The LSU Faculty Council will meet on May 25 for the first time since 2005 to discuss requiring all students to get a COVID-19 vaccination before coming to campus in the Fall 2021 semester.
The Faculty Senate sent two separate letters to President Tom Galligan and Executive Vice President and Provost Stacia Haynie to initiate the meeting May 7. Over 125 faculty members signed the letters.
Faculty initially made the request after several colleges around the country decided to require vaccines. Associate professor of history Meredith Veldman doubts that campus life will return to normal without the university requiring vaccinations.
“[Not mandating vaccines] doesn’t bode well for returning to normal campus life in the fall,” Veldman said.
The University’s upper administration initially disagreed with holding an official council meeting, but instead proposed a faculty forum, according to Veldman. She said since then, however, upper administration has agreed to hold the meeting and is in support of the Faculty Council.
Veldman also said according to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Louisiana is 47th in the country in vaccination rates and around 20% of 18-29-year-olds have been vaccinated in the state. Veldman said this rate is not good, especially since “the HVAC system at LSU is antiquated.”
Galligan said in an interview that the University would consider mandating vaccines if the vaccines gain full FDA authorization, and especially if the LDH puts the COVID vaccine on the required vaccination list, according to WAFB.
Veldman and the Faculty Senate represent the entire Faculty Council, which comprises any full-time member of the faculty with the title Instructor or above.
“What we are asking is for administration to follow a dual path of mitigation measures,” Veldman said.
The Faculty Council believes not only should vaccinations be required, but LSU should also practice additional preventative measures against COVID-19, according to Veldman. This includes possibly improving the HVAC system on campus and weekly mandatory testing for the unvaccinated. Veldman also said providing incentive programs to get vaccinated would help the vaccination rates go up.
Political science professor Daniel Tirone and professor of music theory Inessa Bazayev spoke on radio show TalkLouisiana about how a safe return to campus would greatly improve students’ mental health.
“Students really are yearning to get back on campus,” Tirone said. “I taught on campus this past year, and my experience with my own students is for some of them, my class was the only one they had in person, and it really made a big difference, just getting them that sense of community.”
Bazayev emphasized that the music department especially wants to return to in-person teaching on campus, but is the most vulnerable to the spread of the virus. Professors who teach singing, brass and woodwind instruments want to ensure the safety of themselves and their students when campus returns to normal, according to Bazayev, and that “is only possible if everyone is vaccinated.”
“The music and theatre people have a whole different set of concerns,” Veldman said. “Your student can’t be masked when playing trombone, and they’re blowing and you’re right there in a small rehearsal room.”
If the University does end up requiring vaccinations, they will join Tulane, Xavier and Dillard as the only universities in Louisiana so far to require vaccinations. The Faculty Council meeting Tuesday could set the University on track to mandate vaccinations, something that Veldman believes would be the correct choice.
“I think we’re participating on the wrong side of the race between the virus and the vaccine,” Veldman said. “I think the University has a duty of care not only to its students, but to its community.”