Atlanta HBCUs Require Students, Staff, and Faculty Get The Vaccines To Be On Campus

Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College are among the many Atlanta universities this upcoming fall semester that will require students, faculty members, and staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

On April 19, at the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC), where all the schools received representation, made the announcement that employees and students need to be vaccinated, Atlanta’s WAGA-TV reported.

Those who need two or more shots need to verify that they have completed their vaccination. One-shot vaccine recipients only need to show that they got their single-dose vaccine.

“As AUCC member institutions plan for summer programming and the fall semester, using the latest scientific data to implement vaccination protocols is the next step in keeping our community safe,” a collective statement from the leaders of the AUCC members said. “Vaccination of our community members is critical to continue meeting our highest priority—maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our constituents.”

The schools will offer vaccinations on campuses and at the AUCC Student Health and Wellness Center.

Each university has specific information regarding how students will receive or confirm that students and staff have received at least one vaccine.

There are exceptions from vaccination for students and staff, but the process varies at each institution.

As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, the announcement to enforce college students, including Rutgers, Brown, Duke, Cornell, and Northeastern, into getting their shots is becoming a trend. However, what makes this trend particularly interesting is that it is happening to HBCUs. Some Black people have a stigma of being hesitant to get the vaccine. On the other hand, access to getting the vaccine has been a problem in Black communities.

According to NPR, at least half of adults in the United States–or 84 million people–have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.