If there is one thing Universities are good at, it’s finding a way to squeeze as much money out of their students as possible.
COVID gave them the perfect excuse to do just that. As the vaccine became more widely available and things started going back to normal, many schools saw the perfect opportunity to make more money from the students who choose not to receive the vaccine.
Rhodes College is one of many schools that is imposing a fee ($1,500 a semester) on all students who wish to return to campus this fall without being vaccinated.
They’re calling it a “health & safety fee”, claiming that this charge is meant to cover the mandatory testing that will be required for unvaccinated students.
This is just another way for universities to segregate and alienate students who have chosen not the receive the vaccine, and it doesn’t stop at absurd fees.
All vaccinated students will return to virtually normal school life; they won’t be required to do weekly testing, nor will they be required to wear masks or social distance.
However, students who have opted out of the vaccine will be subjected to quarantines, weekly COVID testing, and all the restrictions that follow.
Like many other schools, Rhodes is planning to require that all employees and students get vaccinated once it’s FDA approved if they want to work at or attend the school.
In the meantime, they plan to collect as much money as possible from students who just don’t have it.
Charging a fee like this forces the students to make a choice they should not have to make…
Campus Reform Correspondent Dietwin Smolie spoke out about Rhodes College’s plans, calling them out for forcing a tough choice on these students.
“Taking a vaccine is a personal decision and the fact that people my age are way less likely to contract serious cases of COVID, let alone be hospitalized and die from it. So there’s no need to impose vaccine mandates on young people, especially when the alternative imposes a hefty amount of money that most college students, let’s be real, don’t have access to.”
In addition to charging unvaccinated students money, the college is also planning to implement restrictions on them in the situation of rising cases.
A policy stated in their student life newsletter stated, “Depending on campus positivity rates, non-vaccinated students may not be permitted to participate in certain campus events and activities including athletics, clubs, and intramurals, and student organizations.”
Once again, we see a case of our rights being violated and our ability to make our own decisions about our lives being taken from us.
When will this stop?
