JACOBSON: 'We are witnessing an attempt to create two different sectors in society'

On this week’s episode of the Campus Countdown, Campus Reform reporter Ophelie Jacobson discusses the University of Hawaii’s recent decision to ban unvaccinated student athletes from playing sports at the school. 

The decision was made by UH’s athletic department after consulting with a university medical committee. A university press release stated that “in addition to health and safety reasons, we want to avoid cancellations of games and practices due to exposures, isolation and quarantine.”

Jacobson notes that “a John Hopkins study shows young adults like me are less likely to contract serious cases of COVID-19.” 

Jacobson then questions why we should be forcing “a vaccine on a population that is relatively low risk when it comes to the virus. With athletes especially, these students are the ones who keep themselves healthy and fit...they are even at a lower risk!”

Although students may apply for an exemption to the COVD-19 vaccine mandate for religious or medical reasons, Jacobson explains how “right now, we are witnessing an attempt to create two different sectors in society: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.”

In the rest of the episode, Campus Reform correspondent Peter Cordi joins the Campus Countdown as a guest reporter. Cordi talks about a committee at the University of Pennsylvania that is considering “outcomes” other than crime reduction for the school’s ongoing police reform. Jacobson also talks about a school in Alabama that is charging its unvaccinated students a $500 fee if they want to return to campus in the fall.