As others have guesses correctly the U did not honor sincerely held religious belief exemption requests. Before you get too comfortable Mwfan1921 about the ‘relative safety’ please be aware that staff are ALLOWED to have exemptions. If you are looking for a fully vaxed community, Scranton would NOT be the place.
I am a frontline worker in law enforcement who worked the entire shutdown and well aware of risks. A simple read through CDC and drug company literature will show that the vax does not stop transmission.
In terms of denying the RE (religious exemption) Scranton was sneaky and underhanded. I urge you to look up how Boston College handled the same. By the first week of July, BC students knew the RE’s would be denied. Regardless of how you feel about the subject, BC was sensitive that time would be important for students looking to transfer.
Scranton strung students along.
Dozens of students wrote RE letters all summer. The school responded by having students complete another school issued form to accompany their RE letters. Any inquiries by parents (I know of dozens) were unanswered.
Scranton decided to string students along, fully aware that transfer deadlines would be missed, and ultimately send rejection letters on the last day possible to get the J&J vax.
I know of 4 families personally that ran out and got the J&J vax today. So in that sense, the Tammany Hall style strong arm policy worked for the U. Families who were nervous or concerned about the emergency use shot were jammed in a corner and ultimately made a decision that haunts them (if you don’t care that people are concerned about long term safety consequences this thread is not for you).
This in no way fits the Scranton care model.
Other students who were strung along are left with little transfer options for the fall. I’d be a fool if I did not recognize that the timing was done with this in mind. Why string students along? Timing the decision to leave students no other options was wholly intentional meant to benefit the U at the expense of the student.
I have dozens of emails and texts from other parents who were a led to believe that an administration policy form was holding up an answer.
While you may guess I disagree with both Scranton and BC about denying RE’s, at least BC made the decision with a student first commitment, while Scranton USED students to hedge enrollment numbers.