CofC ‘strongly encourages’ students to get COVID-19 vaccine

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - College of Charleston officials say they plan to host COVID-19 vaccines clinics on campus for students.

They’re recommending the vaccine for students, faculty, and staff. Currently, it is not a requirement. Some students agree.

“I don’t think they should require them,” CofC student, Andrew Farish said. “I think a lot of students will get them on their own accord just so things can go back to normal around here.”

Other students disagree.

“That’s nice, but I think that it needs to be required especially at a school like CofC,” student Indigo Walker said. “We’re kind of known as a party school so it’d be nice if we required vaccinations.”

CofC Executive Vice President of Student Affairs Alicia Caudill says they are following the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state health leaders and the American College Health Association.

“We are following their guidance to strongly, strongly, strongly recommend the vaccine,” Caudill said. “We will continue to watch that guidance and look at that for our returning students in the fall semester to see if anything changes.”

CofC hosted a vaccine clinic last week where they vaccinated employees and students who met the eligibility guidelines. They say they vaccinated 576 people.

“We also are an approved site from DHEC and we are waiting on our allocation for them so we will offer as many clinics for students as we can,” Caudill said.

Caudill and CofC President Andrew Hsu say they received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“We feel that we see the light at the end of the tunnel and we’re excited to going back to a normal fall semester,” Hsu said.

Hsu says they will be offering mostly in person classes in the fall. He says he’s expecting the demand to rise for online classes.

“It’s just that people have already figured out how convenient that is in terms of their time, their location and many students think that is a good format,” Hsu said.

College officials say they plan to hold in-person graduation ceremonies. There are two options for students.

They can have a social distanced ceremony in the Cistern Yard, the traditional location for CofC graduation ceremonies. However, no guests will be allowed due to space limitations. Students also have the option to attend a ceremony at the Patriots Point Soccer Stadium that will accommodate guests. They have the option to choose which format they prefer.

Tsu says they have about 1,200 students interested in the Cistern Yard traditional ceremony and about 400 students who prefer the stadium. There will be two Cistern Yard ceremonies to allow for social distancing.

The graduation ceremony at Patriots Point will take place on May 6. The Cistern Yard ceremonies will take place on May 7 and May 8.

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