Marist Will Require COVID-19 Vaccines for Fall 2021

The Marist Board of Trustees voted to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students attending the college in person for the next academic year. College faculty and staff will also be required to have the vaccine by the fall 2021 semester. 

“In the coming weeks, we will post to the Marist website further instructions regarding our COVID-19 vaccination requirement,” President Dennis J. Murray said.  “Documented medical and religious exemptions will be accommodated, but it is our expectation that the vast majority of the Marist community will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before we begin the fall 2021 semester.”

President Dennis J. Murray sent an email to the Marist community on Friday morning announcing the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for the next academic year. Marist is planning to return to a sense of normalcy next year as they will have fully in-person instruction, Division I athletics and more than 80 student clubs and organizations.

“Resuming normal life, however, is predicated on widespread vaccination,” President Murray said. “This step has been strongly recommended by Marist’s medical advisory team, the American College Health Association, and the State of New York. In addition, most other major colleges and universities across the country are requiring vaccinations.”

Marist will continue communicating with students on their plans and policies as they develop them over the summer months. In the email, the president made note of the three current vaccines that have been authorized by the FDA which are Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. 

“This requirement is similar to our existing requirements for other immunizations, such as the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella,” President Murray said. “Your cooperation with our health and safety protocols over the past year and a half has gotten us this far, and I’m deeply appreciative of your resilience and perseverance.”

As of Friday May 21, Marist has no active cases of COVID-19 on or off-campus. With only one week left in the semester, the college had a total of 665 COVID-19 cases throughout the spring semester. Marist’s seven-day positivity rate is now at zero and the current COVID-19 alert level on campus is green. 

“There is a growing sense of optimism on the Marist campus that we will soon return to normal, both as a college and as a nation,” President Murray said. “The pandemic has been exhausting for all of us, but it appears as though we’ve weathered the COVID-19 storm. My thanks in advance for your continued support.”

Marist Will Require COVID-19 Vaccines for Fall 2021. Source: Greta Stuckey ‘23