A Message of Hope and Progress: Interim President Jim Crawford’s Address to the Felician University Community!

“Today is a great day for America in our long battle with coronavirus.” President Biden made this statement in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday, following the issuance of the new COVID19 protocols by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky.

Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor or outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. You reach the status of being fully vaccinated 2 weeks following the second shot of a 2-shot vaccine, or after the Johnson & Johnson 1-shot vaccine. A return to normalized living is upon us. This is joyous news. Perhaps there can be a return to the movie theater, the arcade, live concerts, full worship attendance, classrooms that slowly and continually eliminate barriers to full capacity for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Virtually everything we did before the pandemic!

However, there is one caveat, you must be vaccinated, otherwise the risk to you and the public remains at a heightened level. On Wednesday, May 19 at 1pm, I am sponsoring a University-wide Town Hall devoted to vaccine education. Dr. Bindu Balani, an Infectious Disease Specialist from Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center, has graciously agreed to speak about the vaccine and answer your COVID-19 questions. I know there are a lot of end-of-year activities going on and you are all busy, but in the times we are living, I cannot think of a talk more important for you to attend than this one. Dr. Balani is ready, willing, and able to take any questions you may have.

The impacts of COVID-19 on the in-person and residential college and university educational experience have been profound and lasted far too long. These impacts have been both direct, students unable to keep pace in a remote environment, and indirect, students unable to continue their education because of financial hardship brought on by pandemic-compelled employment closures. These are only illustrative of the many negative impacts on higher education arising from the pandemic. I will not emphasize pandemic-related physical suffering and death, as this pain needs no additional emphasis. However, we are now at the threshold of turning the corner into normalized lifestyle behaviors, but with most things individual personal efforts is required to attain this goal.

As the leader of this institution, it is incumbent upon me to chart the path to normalized living, working, studying, etc., within our Felician Community. To put us on the path to greater freedoms, in the Town Hall held a few weeks ago, I concurred with the American College Health Association (ACHA) recommendation that “comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination is the most effective way for institutions of higher education to return to a safe, robust, on-campus experience for students in fall semester 2021.” Accordingly, consistent with state law, available resources, and with acknowledgement of normal exemption practices, including exemptions for medical concerns, COVID-19 vaccination will be required for all on-campus students for fall semester 2021. The CDC director’s announcement last week reinforces the efficacy associated with all of us working to achieve a COVID-19 protected environment.

That said, I do not want to turn this into a contentious issue. I understand some of you do have concerns with taking a COVID-19 vaccine. I do not dismiss these concerns. I respect the views of those who are experiencing doubt. I do not seek to contradict those of you who have vaccine-hesitancy or force you into submission. Rather I seek to dialogue with you, present you with data, and hopefully through this process, offer sufficient information that enables broad vaccine-acceptance within the Felician Community.

As an African American, I am well-aware of the U.S. government’s history with research and medical exploitations. As a recent news article recounted, these issues are rooted in past and present discrimination. Historical abuses such as the forced sterilization of thousands of Native American women and the unethical Tuskegee study conducted on Black men, have generated long-lasting fear and skepticism. People of color continue to face inequity in the health care system, including uneven treatment and testing for COVID-19, which has killed far more Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans than White Americans. It is imperative that we continue to speak out against these inequities if we are to achieve real and enduring change, but it is equally important for us to take advantage of all available resources to ensure the best in healthcare outcomes for our communities. The current ongoing efforts by the federal government and those of the State of New Jersey have a clear focus on delivering positive health outcomes for all. Please do not allow the indefensible behaviors of the past to stand in the way of the opportunity to protect yourself from the scourge of this unrelenting virus.

The statistical report of May 14 reflects, 718,060 new COVID-19 cases and 3,359,994 total deaths reported worldwide. However, the issue for us, is not one of statistics, it is a matter of TRUST. Trust in the government, trust in the process that developed the vaccines, trust in the science, trust in this institution, and trust in me. Like everything of importance, “public health moves at the speed of trust.” In normal circumstances, as a community, we might prefer to move at a slower pace, however, a pandemic does not render normal circumstances. We have been under extraordinary circumstances and conditions since March 2020. I recognize the anxieties that have arisen over this period do not go away simply because a scientist, or the government, or a university president says the answer is now before us. I must gain your TRUST.

TRUST generally builds over time, but our brave, new 21st Century world and the speed at which it operates calls us to adapt. The virus with its capacity to mutate and create variants that threaten the path to normalization calls for us to adapt. I realize the debate around the virus, and vaccine safety and effectiveness, has created so much dissonance that a mere proclamation from me is insufficient. We need to achieve swift TRUST. For Felician to achieve swift TRUST we must employ a cooperative and shared process. In this regard, I will reach out to individuals across every constituency in the University to compose a virtual action team – that will be seconded to the Reopen Committee – to help us plot the path to establishing swift TRUST on vaccination-acceptance.

Additionally, I mentioned in the last Town Hall we would develop a database to allow us to track the health status of the University. I would like to refine this statement. Your health status is a personal matter. Health status privacy is protected by law, policy, and regulation, as a lawyer I have the utmost respect for these protections. Accordingly, my plan is to develop a portal where you – student, staff, and faculty – can input your vaccination-status. This portal will only be visible to health care professionals, who are mandated to protect the information. Other colleges and universities are following this course to maintain the privacy of their constituents. Felician University will do the same. We will issue more information as this construct is developed.

I remain exceedingly pleased with how this community has responded to the challenge of the pandemic; we are in the homestretch. Let us all come together to reach the finish line. Thank you!

*Addendum via Email

Dear Felician Community,

I provided the CDC’s guidance for face coverings/mask wearing indoors.  Governor Murphy has elected to retain his directive for the State of New Jersey to maintain face coverings/masks indoors notwithstanding the vaccination status or physical distancing. Felician will continue to stand in compliance with state standards.

The CDC guidance reflects the direction the nation as a whole is likely to follow in the near term; however, in the meantime we will comply with the directions specifically applicable with in the State of New Jersey.  The public health strategies for the nation and states are evolving rapidly.  We will continue to convey the change in status, both nationally and for the state; however, it is important for each of us to stay personally informed.  Thanks.