University of Virginia disenrolls more than 200 students for failing to meet vaccine requirements

Staff and students began returning to campus this week

The University of Virginia has disenrolled more than 200 students for failing to meet its vaccine conditions ahead of the fall semester.

Staff and students began returning to campus this week for welcoming and other events – but UVA is standing firm when it comes to its vaccination policy, which states that “all students who live, learn, or work in person at the University of Virginia during the 2021-2022 academic year must be fully vaccinated.

“Students may seek a medical or religious exemption to the vaccination requirement. Students with approved medical or religious exemptions will be subject to pre-arrival and weekly prevalence testing requirements and other public health measures. Students who are not vaccinated and do not qualify for an exemption are not permitted to come to Grounds as of July 1, 2021.”

UVA doubled down on those policies by disenrolling 238 students, including 49 who’d already signed up for fall classes. The remaining 189 "may not have been planning to return to the university this fall at all," UVA spokesperson Brian Coy told CNN.

"Disenrolled means you’re not eligible to take courses," he said, adding that students still had until next week to update their status.

Coy also told CNN that more than 96 per cent of the student body had been vaccinated, 1.3 per cent had claimed exemptions and around 1 per cent remained unvaccinated.

UVA has an undergraduate and graduate population of more than 25,000 on a sprawling campus Charlottesville, Virginia.

Provost Liz Magill and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis sent an email to the UVA community on Friday reiterating policies as more and more people began returning to campus.

“UVA community members are strongly encouraged to gather outdoors as much as possible in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, including the highly contagious Delta variant,” they wrote. “That encouragement extends to social gatherings as well as events, particularly those where food or drink are served.”

The university officials also encouraged UVA community members “to exercise sound judgment when gathering around others in an indoor setting, particularly with people from outside of their living arrangement.”

The school will review its current indoor mask policy early in September, according to the UVA site, which also preemptively defends the legality of its conditions.

“The Virginia Attorney General issued an official opinion that Virginia colleges and universities ‘may condition in-person attendance on receipt of an approved COVID-19 vaccine’ during the time of pandemic to keep their students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities safe and healthy,” the UVA website explains.

“As the AG opinion noted, no federal law bars Virginia institutions of higher education from mandating the COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided guidance that employers may mandate the COVID-19 vaccine even though it is only under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).”