Not Throwing Away Our Shot

Since returning to campus last month, active cases of COVID-19 in Gallatin County have risen dramatically, prompting a rapid shift in MSU’s mask policy to once again require masks in instructional settings. The Gallatin City-County Health Department has also been sending warning signals about what the continued strain on the health system here could mean both short-term and long-term as hospitals find themselves nearing capacity. With thousands of students moving back to Bozeman from across Montana and around the world, the influx of people living in Bozeman is likely involved in the uptick of local cases.

To incentivize vaccinations for students and help slow the spread of COVID-19 both on campus and within Bozeman, MSU has started a sweepstakes for every vaccinated student, with incentives ranging from an instant reward of $10 on a student's CatCard to a $5,000 scholarship to be awarded to five students at the end of the semester. However, as active cases on campus continue to increase, it’s becoming clear that this will not be enough to prevent a return to online learning.

In order to avoid this dreaded and very real possibility, it’s time for the ASMSU senate to introduce a formal request to the Montana University System (MUS) Board of Regents to institute a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students taking classes on campus. Earlier this week, the Associated Students of the University of Montana, as well as the UM Faculty Senate, passed a non-binding resolution to this end, calling on the Board of Regents to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of immunizations students are already required to have. The senators representing MSU students should follow up with a resolution of their own, to present a united front and to push the MUS toward a vaccine requirement for Montana students. It is also a collective responsibility of the Board of Regents to act on this resolution. This is not to say that the resolution and board action must occur in order. Ideally, this conversation would be occurring as the board of regents holds its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 16.

MSU would also be far from the first school to require its students to either receive the vaccine or submit to weekly testing by the university. This week, Virginia Tech and Xavier University joined a growing list of schools requiring vaccinations for students on campus. Universities in 39 different states not including Montana now require students to provide proof of vaccination before returning to school this fall. This begs the question, why not us?

The 67th Montana Legislature passed House Bill 702 in Spring of 2021, which prohibits  discriminatory measures based on vaccination status in the state. Under the law, the authority to

require a vaccine rests with the governing body of Montana universities, which is the Board of Regents. This complicates the vaccine requirement process, but the ASMSU Senate and Board of Regents still have room to take action.

The science is clear: vaccines are safe, effective and our best tool to fight the pandemic. With the recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration to grant full approval for the Pfizer vaccine, there is nothing that should stop the Board of Regents from requiring students to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in order to live on campus and attend in-person classes.

We’ve all seen how devastating this virus can be, with daily cases in the U.S. peaking at well over 300,000 cases a day and more than 655,000 deaths being recorded since the pandemic began. In order to put this pandemic behind us as best we can, it’s time for everyone to do their part and get the vaccine. If the Board of Regents wants to prove that it is serious in protecting its students and the MSU community, then a vaccination requirement is the next logical step. As the voice of students, dedicated to enhancing the college experience at MSU, ASMSU should also nudge the Board of Regents in the direction of making vaccination a requirement. In this way, both the Board of Regents and ASMSU are protecting students and faculty from an invisible enemy.