Maryville College starts academic year with high vaccination rates
Aug. 19, 2021
Maryville College is opening up for the 2021-22 academic year with a protected campus that includes high vaccination rates and COVID-19 protocols designed to keep the campus community safe.
As of Aug. 19, 79% of Maryville College students and more than 88% of employees are either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have received at least one dose of the vaccine. One hundred percent of full-time faculty are vaccinated.
“We believe that we are currently the most vaccinated campus in the state of Tennessee,” said Maryville College President Bryan F. Coker. “We value an in-person educational experience here at Maryville College, and I am so proud of our community and its efforts to keep our campus safe and healthy.”
In April, Coker announced that Maryville College was requiring, with some exceptions, that its faculty, staff and students be vaccinated against COVID-19 before Aug. 1. The vaccine requirement was implemented with specified exceptions for: (1) medical reasons, (2) religious reasons, and (3) personal preference.
All unvaccinated students and employees will be included in periodic COVID-19 testing throughout the semester. Students who request a personal preference exemption will be charged a COVID-19 testing fee in the amount of $250 per semester. Maryville College is reserving the option of removing the personal preference exemption category when a COVID-19 vaccine moves out of emergency use authorization.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryville College has followed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Tennessee Department of Health and will continue to do so, Coker said.
Masks are currently required indoors on campus, regardless of vaccination status, and individuals are encouraged to exercise physical distancing while indoors.
In July, Coker issued a set of overarching principles which are guiding decisions about Maryville College’s COVID-19 response for fall 2021. These include a commitment to evidence-based decision-making; an affirmation of the College’s belief that the available vaccines are safe; and a reminder about Maryville College’s foundational in-person experience – and a desire by the MC community to return to this experience.
Based upon these beliefs, Maryville College is: encouraging, promoting and incentivizing COVID vaccination; disincentivizing non-vaccination; endeavoring to mitigate risks posed by those who are not vaccinated; affording certain freedoms and privileges to those who are vaccinated, “because science tells us we can do so;” and requiring non-vaccinated individuals to (1) wear masks inside buildings, (2) submit to periodic COVID testing, and (3) bear some responsibility for the costs of COVID testing.
“In these principles, you can see our commitment to COVID vaccination as a way of caring for others, as well as a way to return to the close-knit, small college, residential environment that has always been a hallmark of the Maryville College experience,” the president said. “#ScotsGetShots is how we can exemplify our commitment to caring for others and how we live out our mission today of, in the words of Maryville College founder Rev. Isaac Anderson, ‘doing good on the largest possible scale.’”