Ivy League schools have the reputation as the best universities in the nation. But, a new Cornell policy for Fall 2020 which gives people of color an exemption from the school’s mandatory flu vaccination is turning heads. How can an equal opportunity educator require only its Caucasian students to get vaccinated?
Cornell Offers Exemption To Mandatory Flu Vaccination
The prestigious university is requiring students to get flu vaccines. It’s mandatory, but Cornell Health is giving exemptions to people of color.
Campus Reform reports that Cornell Health’s vaccine requirement FAQ reads, “Students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color (BIPOC) may have personal concerns about fulfilling the Compact requirements based on historical injustices and current events.”
Which basically leaves Caucasians being forced to get the flu vaccine while everyone else can apply for a waiver.
If vaccinations are that imperative to protecting everyone, why wouldn’t they force everyone to take them? How can they force people to get a shot based on their skin color? Isn’t that racial profiling?
These are the questions the Ivy League institution now must answer.
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Cornell’s Exemption To Flu Vaccination Is Race-Based
The FAQ links to a page “especially for students of color,” which is intended to help minority students understand the flu vaccine requirement.
Students are able to send an email requesting an exemption.
“The Ivy League school offers a race-based exemption from its new mandatory flu shot, requiring only white students to get immunized before returning to the area.”
Isn’t this systemic racism?https://t.co/QPRfcgA9dT
— Jolly Lady of the Lake ?❤️ ⚔️ (@Lady_Astor) December 8, 2020
Systemic Racism
This page for students of color reads like a woke far left protest.
It mentions systemic racism and police shootings as a reason some may object to a flu shot.
We recognize that, due to longstanding systemic racism and health inequities in this country, individuals from some marginalized communities may have concerns about needing to agree to such requirements. For example, historically, the bodies the of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) have been mistreated, and used by people in power, sometimes for profit or medical gain. It is understandable that the current Compact requirements may feel suspect or even exploitative to some BIPOC members of the Cornell community. Additionally, recent acts of violence against Black people by law enforcement may contribute to feelings of distrust or powerlessness. We know this history and validate the potential concerns it may raise. At the same time, we know that long-standing social inequalities and health disparities have resulted in COVID-19 disproportionately affecting BIPOC individuals. Higher percentages of individuals from these communities become infected with COVID, and the health outcomes related to infection are often more serious. Away from campus community, BIPOC individuals are not as likely to have access to preventive services or quality health care. The systems, services, and policies being implemented at Cornell seek to address these inequalities as well as the differential impacts.
Cornell’s Basis For Its Race-Based Exemption
Further, when explaining the reasoning behind the exemption, Cornell Health links to an article titled “The Burdens of Race and History on Black People’s Health 400 Years After Jamestown“.
The university thus feels they can mandate what happens to Caucasian bodies in 2020 but not certain minorities selected by Cornell on the basis of select past atrocities.
It begs the question if anyone on Cornell’s staff considered giving Jewish people an exemption. The list could go on, of course, but Cornell has already decided for us which atrocities and minorities qualify.
With the irony being that said exemption based on past events puts the current individual at risk in 2020.
These Ivy League students are being portrayed as victims who don’t even understand flu shots.
Cornell was regarded as one of the best colleges in the country. Now, its health department is apparently filled with social justice warriors.
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They are separating students based on race and forcing one group to get flu shots.
What happened to “My body, my choice?” Doesn’t this meet the definition of discrimination?