All students at the Rochester Institute of Technology must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before the start of the fall semester. That announcement came on Wednesday from RIT President David Munson.
RIT joins the University of Rochester and a number of other colleges and universities in requiring that undergraduate and graduate students be completely vaccinated by Aug. 1.
Carl Langsenkamp, RIT’s public information and communications director, said the decision was made following discussions with national, state and local health officials, as well as students, faculty, and staff representatives. Langsenkamp said everyone agreed that vaccination is the best chance at broadening in-person learning.
“We believe immunization is critical to controlling the spread of the virus, and making sure our on-campus activities and student living are up to what it should be for a college student,” Langsenkamp said.
Langsenkamp said RIT will provide support for any student having trouble scheduling a vaccination appointment or finding transportation to a site. Medical and religious exemptions will be accomodated.
Munson said vaccination is the “ticket to the future,” and it will allow RIT to achieve a level of normalcy that has been missing for more than a year.
“The well-being of our community is a shared responsibility,” said Munson. “Vaccination helps not only you; it helps to protect all in our community.”
