CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The University of Virginia announced Friday that it had disenrolled 238 students ahead of its fall semester for noncompliance with the school’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
Forty-nine of the students were enrolled in fall courses, according to The Virginian-Pilot. That meant that “a good number” of the disenrolled students were not planning to return to campus this fall, university spokesperson Brian Coy said in an email to the newspaper.
The university unveiled its vaccine mandate in May, and school officials said in a news release that 96.6% of its students are vaccinated against COVID-19, The Washington Post reported. Officials said 335 students with religious and medical exemptions were granted permanent waivers, according to the newspaper.
University of Virginia disenrolls 238 students for not complying with vaccine requirement - The Virginian-Pilot https://t.co/vHl7S1A0Qr
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Fall arrival and orientation began Wednesday, and classes begin Tuesday, WCAV reported.
Disenrolled students can re-enroll if they comply with the university’s vaccine requirement or file an exemption by Wednesday, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Students can also return during the spring semester if they have been vaccinated or are exempt, the newspaper reported.
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At a town hall last month, university president Jim Ryan said vaccines are a crucial piece of the school’s reopening strategy.
“We are in a much better and much different position than we were last year, primarily because of the vaccines and the extraordinarily high vaccination rate in our community,” Ryan said, according to a report by the Post. “This means we can return in person to classes, activities, sporting events and research labs as we have been planning to do in the fall semester, with the residential experiences that are at the heart of this university.”
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