Students at Connecticut’s Quinnipiac University will be fined up to $2,275 and lose internet access if they fail to comply with the university’s COVID-19 vaccination policies.
The private liberal arts college in New Haven County announced the new penalties on Aug. 16 in an email sent to some 600 students who haven’t yet provided proof of COVID-19 vaccination or requested an exemption.
Students at Quinnipiac were required to submit their vaccination records by Aug. 1, according to an email obtained by The Epoch Times. Those not in compliance by Sept. 14 will begin to face $100 weekly fines, with increases of $25 after every two weeks, up to a maximum of $200 per week. They also won’t be able to use the school’s campus network and Wi-Fi.
Students could be fined up to $2,275 in total for the fall term, the university warned. The penalties cover those who don’t receive a vaccine, as well as exempted students who miss weekly COVID-19 testing. There will be a $100 fine for each missed test.
Students who received one dose of a two-dose regimen by Aug. 25 won’t face a fine, as long as they are fully vaccinated by Sept. 14, the university officials said. But they still need to participate in weekly testing until two weeks after their second dose and upload a negative test result before returning to campus.
“We wish we did not have to take these measures, but protecting the health of our QU community by ensuring compliance with our vaccination requirement is the only way we can ease most of our COVID-related restrictions and safely return to our in-person learning and living activities,” Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett said in the email sent to students. “Thank you for your attention to these important health protocols.”
Quinnipiac isn’t the first school in the United States to use financial means to enforce its vaccination policy. Rhodes College, a private liberal arts college serving a little more than 2,000 students in Memphis, Tennessee, announced in June that students must be vaccinated or pay a mandatory testing fee of $1,500.
“Upon returning to campus, non-vaccinated students will be charged a $1,500 per semester Health & Safety fee to cover the costs of mandatory testing,” a letter to the Rhodes community read.
Similarly, West Virginia Wesleyan College, a private liberal arts college in West Virginia, announced earlier this month that it will fine any unvaccinated student $750. Those students also are required to wear masks while indoors, undergo weekly testing, and maintain physical distance. Any students who are diagnosed with COVID-19 and are unable to leave campus will pay another $250 fine.
