{"id":73192,"date":"2021-07-10T13:52:08","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T17:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=73192"},"modified":"2021-07-10T13:52:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T17:52:08","slug":"college-students-everywhere-rejecting-mandatory-covid-vaccination-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=73192","title":{"rendered":"College Students Everywhere Rejecting Mandatory Covid Vaccination Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

College Students Reject COVID Vaccine Mandates \u2014 By Voting With Their Dollars<\/h1>\n

As more than 500 colleges and universities embrace COVID vaccine mandates, there is no reason students and families can\u2019t shun coercive educational institutions and forge their own educational path.<\/em><\/h3>\n

By Children’s Health Defense Team
\nThe Defender<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The U.S. still has roughly 4,000<\/a> degree-granting postsecondary institutions, but the number has been shrinking for nearly a decade. Colleges acknowledge historically low birthrates<\/a> \u2014 lower even than during the Great Depression \u2014 mean increasingly stiff competition for fewer students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the student side of the equation, academic advisors counsel<\/a> their advisees to make their college decisions by figuring out \u201cwhat\u2019s important to them\u201d and selecting schools that \u201calign with those priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it happens, COVID<\/a> has confronted would-be college students who are trying to separate the wheat from the chaff with a new and pressing question: Does the college of their choice side with health freedom \u2014 or has it chosen to ignore the Nuremberg<\/a> principle of informed consent<\/a> by recklessly mandating<\/a>experimental COVID shots?<\/p>\n

Lawyers caution<\/a> \u201cuniversities should tread carefully and consult legal counsel \u2026 before making this critical policy decision,\u201d arguing COVID vaccine mandates<\/a>could invite a \u201cwave of litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ignoring this advice, more than 500 colleges and universities so far have decided to impose vaccine mandates for fall 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Institutions of higher education in vaccine-coercive states like California<\/a>, Connecticut<\/a>, Massachusetts<\/a> and New York<\/a> \u2014 states that in recent years eliminated or threatened to eliminate vaccine exemptions \u2014 are among the COVID vaccine mandate ringleaders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the list also includes some surprises, including<\/a> Historically Black Colleges and Universities<\/a> (HBCUs). Among Georgia\u2019s 70 colleges and universities, for example, only eight are mandating COVID shots \u2014 five<\/a> of those are HBCUs.<\/p>\n

HBCUs\u2019 willingness to mandate<\/a> vaccines not yet licensed<\/a> by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) runs contrary to the wishes of many in the Black community. Proportionately fewer<\/a> Black Americans (34%) have accepted COVID vaccines compared to White (47%), Hispanic (39%) or Asian Americans (62%) \u2014 with many citing the lengthy history of medical racism<\/a> and experimentation as reasons for caution.<\/p>\n

But COVID lockdowns wreaked havoc on HBCU finances, already precarious<\/a>before the coronavirus. In October, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation\u2019s<\/a>strategic award of millions<\/a> to HBCUs to \u201cbridge medical distrust\u201d perhaps represented an offer \u201ctoo good to refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even at tonier establishments such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, administrators and professors seem at ease with coercion for students. A law and medical ethics professor at Penn, where endowment assets<\/a> increased in 2020, callously told<\/a> prospective students in late June if they are unwilling to get the unapproved injections, they \u201cdon\u2019t have to go here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unconvincing benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

To tarnish clear-thinking young adults\u2019 reputations, the mainstream media have been pejoratively associating 18- to 34-year-olds (Gen-Zers and Millennials) who refuse the COVID injections with 1960s-era draft dodgers, calling them \u201cAmerica\u2019s biggest vaccine-dodgers<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

These attacks come despite mounting criticism<\/a> from all quarters about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s (CDC\u2019s) COVID vaccine advice for Gen-Zers in the 12- to 17-year age group.<\/p>\n

In late June, the mainstream medical news outlet MedPage Today (ordinarily a vaccine cheerleader) condemned the CDC\u2019s shotgun recommendations for adolescents as being \u201call wrong\u201d \u2014 particularly with regard to vaccine-related heart problems<\/a> \u2014 stating that the agency\u2019s \u201call-or-nothing, one-size-fits-all binary approach\u201d relies on \u201coutdated COVID-19 risk rates\u201d and fails to maximize benefits and minimize risks.<\/p>\n

If surveys tracking COVID vaccine uptake are any indication, many young adults have reached similar conclusions, weighing the shots\u2019 unproven benefits for their age group against the growing toll of life-altering vaccine injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of June, one survey research organization reported 60%<\/a> of adult respondents under age 35 were unvaccinated \u2014 including 43% who reported being either \u201cunwilling\u201d or \u201cuncertain.\u201d Young adults in the \u201cunwilling\u201d category have remained \u201cresolute in that decision\u201d over time, and even among uncertain<\/a>under-35\u2019s, \u201cthere is little to indicate recent incentive campaigns have moved the needle with this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Money talks<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is not hard to understand why some students may feel the need to comply with coercion from their colleges, particularly if the colleges refuse to honor their religious or medical exemptions.<\/p>\n

COVID-era research is describing<\/a> record levels of anxiety and disillusionment among pandemic-era college students grappling \u2014 on an almost daily basis \u2014 with uncertainty and the perception that there is \u201cno playbook to turn to.\u201d<\/p>\n

With COVID-related policies having destroyed one-third<\/a> of America\u2019s small businesses in many states and robots<\/a> coming for many of the jobs that remain, young people are indeed in uncharted territory.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, young people should remember their strength in numbers. Colleges and universities have a substantial economic impact<\/a> on their neighborhoods and municipalities, including through capital investments and consumption of goods and services \u2014 but they need students to drive the economic engine.<\/p>\n

As of fall 2020, U.S. college students numbered about 20 million<\/a> \u2014 85% enrolled as undergraduates, and 75% at public institutions. This constitutes a sizeable economic bloc with the power to push back and invent a new playbook.<\/p>\n

This influence is already making itself felt. Some families, for example, have rejected colleges\u2019 precipitous switch to often mediocre online learning (with no adjustment in tuition and fees) and have brought lawsuits<\/a>, demanding refunds.<\/p>\n

Others have deferred enrollment. By March 2021, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center was reporting<\/a> a 5.9% drop in overall undergraduate enrollment (compared to spring 2020) and a 7.2% decline among the \u201ctraditional\u201d college-age population of 18- to 20-year-olds who represent the largest tranche of undergraduates.<\/p>\n

How students can fight back<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no reason students and families cannot forge a new educational path while shunning coercive colleges. Students can consider one or more of the following options:<\/p>\n