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Indiana U.’s Vaccine Mandate Has Survived a Legal Challenge. It’s Still an Anomaly.

By  Oyin Adedoyin
July 19, 2021
Lucy Brenton, vice chair of the Indiana Libertarian Party, speaks during the demonstration. Anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers gathered at Indiana University’s Sample Gates to protest against mandatory Covid vaccinations IU is requiring for students, staff and faculty during the upcoming fall semester.
Jeremy Hogan, SOPA Images, LightRocket, Getty Images
A protester speaks at a demonstration against Indiana U.’s requirement that students and employees be vaccinated against Covid-19.

A federal judge ruled on Sunday against a legal challenge to the Indiana University system’s vaccine mandate, effectively upholding the requirement that all students be vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to campus in the fall unless they qualify for an exemption. The ruling sends a strong signal that the lawsuits filed in response to colleges’ vaccine requirements may face steep odds in court.

Eight undergraduate and graduate students at Indiana filed a lawsuit against the university in June, arguing that the mandate — which also applies to employees — was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. But Judge Damon R. Leichty of the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana denied the request in favor of the university’s “discretion to act reasonably in protecting the public’s health.”

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A federal judge ruled on Sunday against a legal challenge to the Indiana University system’s vaccine mandate, effectively upholding the requirement that all students be vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to campus in the fall unless they qualify for an exemption. The ruling sends a strong signal that the lawsuits filed in response to colleges’ vaccine requirements may face steep odds in court.

Eight undergraduate and graduate students at Indiana filed a lawsuit against the university in June, arguing that the mandate — which also applies to employees — was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. But Judge Damon R. Leichty of the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana denied the request in favor of the university’s “discretion to act reasonably in protecting the public’s health.”

“Recognizing the students’ significant liberty to refuse unwanted medical treatment, the Fourteenth Amendment permits Indiana University to pursue a reasonable and due process of vaccination in the legitimate interest of public health for its students, faculty, and staff,” said the court’s ruling. “Today, on this preliminary record, the university has done so for its campus communities.”

A similar lawsuit, filed last month in the U.S. District Court for Eastern California on behalf of three students at California State University at Chico, is pending. And two students and a parent are suing the University of Connecticut over its vaccine mandate.

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Indiana is one of several states that have enacted laws banning businesses and government entities from requiring coronavirus “vaccine passports” or proof of vaccination.

Under Indiana’s mandate, students can request exemption for religious, ethical, and medical reasons or if they opt to attend the university remotely. Students who aren’t vaccinated and don’t qualify for exemptions, however, will have their class registrations canceled and won’t be allowed to participate in campus activities, according to a statement on IU’s website.

Because the state’s law prohibits a “vaccine passport” and not a vaccine requirement, the court ruling noted, the university is allowed to mandate vaccinations.

Some nearby colleges aren’t following Indiana University’s example. Purdue University will not require the Covid vaccine for students in the fall. “We’re with a very large majority of American colleges and universities who are not planning to require the vaccine this fall,” said Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., Purdue’s president, on a Monday morning interview with MSNBC. “I think it’s mainly a practical decision.”

Purdue will offer students a choice between vaccination or regular testing and mandatory quarantine if exposed to Covid-19. Daniels said university officials have yet to take a stance on whether masks will be mandated for unvaccinated students.

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Some public-health experts have pointed to vaccine mandates as a reliable way to ensure a safe fall semester, especially as the more-transmissible Delta variant gains ground in the United States. But colleges and universities remain split on the decision of whether to require vaccinations or strongly recommend them.

Made with Flourish

In Ohio, public schools and colleges will be banned from requiring vaccinations not granted full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under a bill signed last week by Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. (The agency has granted emergency-use authorization of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccines, not full approval.)

But the bill doesn’t take effect until October, which gives Cleveland State University a window. The public university was one of the first institutions in America to announce its vaccine mandate, which applies only to students living on campus. The university confirmed to Cleveland.com last week that it would continue to require vaccines for residents.

According to The Chronicle’s tracker of vaccine mandates, the Indiana system and Cleveland State are outliers. Of the 246 public campuses that have issued some kind of vaccine requirement, only 10 — the nine Indiana system campuses and Cleveland State — are located in states that voted last year to re-elect Donald J. Trump as president.

A version of this article appeared in the August 6, 2021, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Political Influence & ActivismLaw & Policy
Oyin Adedoyin
Oyin Adedoyin is a staff reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Follow her on Twitter @oyinadedoyin5, or email her at oyin.adedoyin@chronicle.com.
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