Delaware Tech vaccine mandate may be revised

Under questioning by legislators during the Feb. 3 Joint Finance Committee hearing, the Delaware Technical Community College president said he may reconsider the vaccine mandate for students learning remotely.

“Have we made that final decision yet – no, but we’re close. We’re going to revisit that, and I suspect … we’re basically at the point where we are probably going to modify the policy,” said President Mark T. Brainard. “If someone is truly remote, and someone is expressing an intent not to set foot on our campus to access those services, we’ll find a way to exempt them and modify. That’s where we’re heading.”

Delaware Tech announced its vaccine mandate Jan. 21 for all students, in person and remote. Since then Rep. Kevin Hensley, R-Middletown, and Sen. Dave Lawson, R-Marydel, said they have received numerous complaints about the mandate.

“Folks who are 100 percent remote are struggling to understand why the required mandate when they are not physically in your buildings,” Hensley said.

Brainard said he has received plenty of emails as well. He said the initial decision to require vaccines was based on the fact that campuses, computer labs, math labs, and other campus centers are open. “In sticking with the student-centered approach, we thought these students are going to have to access the campuses and there’s no way to really effectively administer that, so it needs to pertain to remote students as well,” he said.

But based on the emails from unvaccinated students, Brainard said, the policy may soon be revised. 

“You get some emails from students who lay out a very fact-based, professional approach to this thing,” he said. “They have said they have zero intent on going to campus, and they will do their work remotely.”