Rutgers University student, Logan Hollar, cannot attend online classes because of his vaccination status. In spite of receiving information from the school on COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the 22-year-old ignored them as he only studied remotely and assumed that there was no requirement to be vaccinated since he doesn’t set foot on campus.
Logan told NJ.com that he didn’t pay too much attention to the COVID-19 mandates because he studied from his Sandyston home, which is about 70 miles away from the university campus.
Unfortunately, at the end of August, when he attempted to pay his tuition at the school website, he lost access to his account and Rutgers-linked email and was told he needed to be vaccinated, despite not attending physically.
According to Logan, he is not the only person in this situation, as he has been unable to make it to classes that had started since the beginning of this month, with little to no hope for a timely exemption.
“I find it concerning for the vaccine to be pushed by the university rather than my doctor. If someone wants to be vaccinated, that’s fine with me, but I don’t think they should be pushed,” the student said.
“I’ll probably have to transfer to a different university,” he told NJ.com. “I don’t care if I have access to campus. I don’t need to be there. They could ban me. I just want to be left alone.”
In March, the university had first stated that students taking physical classes would need to show proof of vaccination, and they also said that students in fully online programs would not need to provide proof of vaccinations, but now Logan Hollar’s case seems to contradict their initial statement.
However, a Rutgers spokesperson asserted that the institution had “provided comprehensive information and direction to students to meet vaccine requirements through several communications channels.”
According to her, the university guidelines separates a “fully online degree-granting program” from “classes that are fully remote.”
Keith Williams, Logan’s stepfather, claims that he is “dumbfounded” by Rutgers’ stance.
Speaking to NJ.com, he stated: “I believe in science, I believe in vaccines, but I am highly confident that COVID-19 and variants do not travel through computer monitors by taking online classes, he chose to remove himself from an on-campus experience so he would not need to be vaccinated.”
“Now to be removed and shut down from his Rutgers email and online classes during the start of his senior year seems a bit crazy,” Williams continued.
