In an email to students, Arizona State University says the university has the “expectation” that all students enrolled in an on-campus learning program will be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Students are encouraged to get their shots and then submit proof of vaccination to the university. Those that do not or cannot are still allowed on campus, but they’ll have to submit a daily health check, get tested for COVID-19 twice a week and wear masks both inside and outside on campus. Vaccinated students will not have to do any of those things.
The announcement has upset some at the state Capitol.
Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday he would issue an executive order that will “ensure this excessive policy is never enforced." The order was announcedaround noon on Tuesday.
I’ll be issuing an executive order that will ensure this excessive policy is never enforced, and asking the Legislature to codify the order into law. 4/4
— Doug Ducey (@DougDucey) June 15, 2021
The order prohibits the state’s public universities from requiring vaccines. And it goes further — blocking the institutions from requiring students to wear masks or get tested for the virus.
The governor also plans to ask the Legislature to make that order a law.
Hundreds of public and private universities and colleges across the country are planning to require COVID-19 vaccines when students go back to campus. ASU’s plan encouraged vaccines, but did not make them mandatory.
To learn more about the change in policy, The Show spoke with ASU President Michael Crow on Tuesday morning.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, ASU said the university "will comply with Gov. Ducey’s Executive Order ... and will communicate changes in protocols to the university community."
