THE
INDEPENDENT
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T HE T UFTS DAILY
VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 50
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
tuftsdaily.com
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Prior to vaccination requirement announcement, TCU Senate called for increased vaccine accessibility
by Ava Autry Staff Writer
University Infection Control Health Director Michael Jordan announced in an email to the Tufts community on April 25 that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be available to all students, faculty and staff between April 28 and 30 at the Gantcher Center. According to the email, all students are required to be vaccinated prior to their return to campus for the fall 2021 semester. Students in the Tufts University Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine, and the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, have a vaccination deadline of July 1. While faculty and staff are encouraged to get the vaccine, they have an option to decline, and there are also possibilities for religious and medical exemptions for all. Prior to this announcement, students in the Tufts Community Union Senate attempted various efforts to call for a vaccination mandate and heighten accessibility to the vaccine for the Tufts community. In their final meeting of the academic year on April 19, TCU Senate passed a resolution regarding advanced accessibility on behalf of the administration for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine for the upcoming fall 2021 semester.
AVA IANNUCCILLO / THE TUFTS DAILY
Bendetson Hall is pictured in the spring. The original wording of the resolution pushed for a vaccine mandate, but there was debate surrounding this aspect that prevented its inclusion into what was ultimately passed. In the end, the resolution passed without a vaccine mandate but with a call for heightened accessibility to the vaccine with 15 senators voting in favor, one opposing and six abstaining. The original form of the resolution also cited internation-
al COVID-19 infection totals, vaccine efficacy statistics and information on how the virus disproportionately affects communities of color as reasons to institute a mandate. Ritesh Vidhun, a member of the Administration and Policy Committee in the Senate and a Class of 2024 senator, was a member of the team of senators that conceptualized and proposed this legislation to TCU Senate.
He spoke to the original motivations for the legislation regarding hope, accessibility and inequity. “We saw increases in vaccine rollouts across the country and I guess we just had more optimism that students would be able to be vaccinated over the summer,” Vidhun, a first-year, said. He mentioned the inequities within health and vaccine distribution that the resolution
addresses, particularly in the final version. “If a large majority of students are vaccinated, it would directly help those communities on campus that are particularly at risk for illness for COVID, specifically immunocompromised students, students of color,” Vidhun said. “We felt that this policy or this mandate would promote see VACCINES, page 2
Wellness center resolution receives support from TCU Senate, lack of tangible response from administration by Colton Wolk and Sam Klugherz
Associate Editor and News Editor
The Tufts Community Union Senate passed a resolution on April 19, advancing the bid to establish an on-campus wellness center and putting pressure on the Tufts administration to heighten its support for student mental health initiatives. Matthew Alswanger and student wellness organizations led the efforts. The resolution was submitted by Alswanger, along with seniors Kirsten Grazewski and Dani Coates and juniors Ananda Kao, Sarah Beatty and Uzochi Oparaji. The proposed wellness center would provide a dedicated
space for mindfulness and offer wellness programming, mental health resources and stress-reduction activities, according to Alswanger, who graduated in February. The proposal also suggests offering scheduled times during which the center would only be open to students of color, emphasizing accessibility in its programming. The center would offer wellness-focused student groups, including Active Minds and Morgan’s Message, a relaxing space on campus to host club activities. “When you look at where the programming takes place, it’s usually in classrooms or in small spaces that aren’t aesthetically pleasing for wellness,” Alswanger said. “They’re all
on board to basically have this space as a dedicated space for their events for their meetings.” The resolution cites several studies and a student petition in support of an on-campus wellness center. “A student circulated petition for the creation of a wellness center on campus garnered support from over 30 clubs and signatures of over 600 students in 6 days,” the resolution says. The resolution concludes by calling on Michelle Bowdler, executive director of health and wellness services, to respond in writing to the resolution within two weeks, addressing how the university will pursue the initiative. The Senate meeting at which the resolution was proposed
and voted on was attended by Bowdler and Ian Wong, director of the Department of Health Promotion and Prevention, who both offered support for student efforts to promote wellness on campus. Bowdler and Wong nevertheless noted significant concerns with implementing the proposal. “My biggest red flag was the timing of it and the staffing,” Bowdler said in the meeting. “Ultimately, we don’t have an available space, and we don’t have the funding to make this happen. But do I think it’s a good idea to pursue and think about further? Sure.” Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations at Tufts, indicated the universi-
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ty’s support for the motivations behind the center. “We agree that a dedicated space concept is worth further study and exploration of how it might support student mental health and wellness,” Collins wrote in an email to the Daily. Collins added that the Mental Health Task Force appointed by University President Anthony Monaco, which delivered its report in 2019, recommended that the university consider establishing an Integrated Wellness Outreach Center, similar to the center proposed by Alswanger. Collins, however, echoed Bowdler’s concerns surrounding the resources needed to realize see WELLNESS, page 2 NEWS
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