Governor candidate Terry McAuliffe meets with College officials

Tuesday, Aug. 24, Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe sat down with community leaders, health advisors from the College of William and Mary and local representatives to discuss the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations. McAuliffe, who has put an emphasis on implementing vaccine mandates in Virginia schools and workplaces during his campaign, held an open dialogue to discuss the College’s overall experience with the pandemic and their success handling cases and vaccinations. 

“Every student needs to be vaccinated, so I’ve been very aggressive on this,” McAuliffe said. “We’ve got to get rid of this COVID-19 as fast as we possibly can. I am very upset that 90 million Americans have not gotten it yet. Our children are back in school wearing masks because these people refuse to get vaccinated.” 

College President Katherine Rowe, as well as Student Assembly President Meghana Boojala ’22 and Graduate Council President Richard Reksoatmodjo, were in attendance to represent the College. In addition, three of the College’s COVID-19 Response Team leaders also participated in the open exchange, including Chief Operating Officer Amy Sebring M.P.P. ’95, Tribe Athletics Chief Medical Officer Virginia Wells and Chief Technology Officer Corinne Picataggi. 

Virginia Senator Monty Mason ’89 and State Delegate Mike Mullin were also present. 

“It was great to have such leadership in the room,” Boojala said. “I was thankful to get the direct perspective of so many experts. I think everyone’s policies, between William and Mary, the local delegation, the state and Richmond are very aligned in a lot of ways in terms of whether to mandate the vaccines, how to support those underserved communities, and I think it’s really exciting to see everyone aligned in that way.”

“It was great to have such leadership in the room,” Boojala said. “I was thankful to get the direct perspective of so many experts. I think everyone’s policies, between William and Mary, the local delegation, the state and Richmond are very aligned in a lot of ways in terms of whether to mandate the vaccines, how to support those underserved communities, and I think it’s really exciting to see everyone aligned in that way.”

McAuliffe kicked off the discussion by asking the eight representatives if they were governor, what would they do going forward regarding the pandemic? 

Reksoatmodjo responded first, explaining the importance of remote learning and applauding the support he received from graduate advisors during the transition to virtual classes. Boojala followed up on his point, noting that many students might struggle with remote learning due to home life and Wi-Fi issues and that the College’s hybrid model was able to accommodate a wide array of students.  

Rowe pointed to the fact that the College’s response and ability to adapt to the pandemic was reflected in this year’s large application pool. 

“It became so evident that the choice of modes was actually the key success factor,” Rowe said regarding the College’s decision to offer remote and hybrid-style classes for the 20-21 school year. “…We had a 23% increase in applications.” 

July 29, 2021, the College’s COVID Response Team mandated that all students, staff and faculty must be vaccinated, unless they have an appropriate exemption. Students who remain unvaccinated without appropriate exemption will be academically withdrawn, and staff and faculty will be placed on unpaid leave or terminated. 

As of Aug. 23, 90% of staff and faculty and 93% of students report being vaccinated. Outside the College’s campus however, the rates remain significantly lower. According to the Virginia Department of Health, only 57.3% of the Commonwealth’s population is fully vaccinated. 

“I’m happy with where we are on our campus,” Wells said. “In order to achieve herd immunity, we need to be at a 90-93% vaccination rate, which is where we are. So that’s great. But we need to be there for the state, for the country.” 

“I’m happy with where we are on our campus,” Wells said. “In order to achieve herd immunity, we need to be at a 90-93% vaccination rate, which is where we are. So that’s great. But we need to be there for the state, for the country.” 

While the discussion mainly focused on the campus’ and the greater Williamsburg area’s experience with vaccinations and the virus, McAuliffe briefly mentioned other policy platforms for his campaign, including increasing teachers’ salaries and rebuilding public schools.

“I have 18 very specific proposals, and I would love your input, ideas, to make it better, whatever we have to do,” McAuliffe said. “I won’t make today political, but my opponent has no plans.”

Running against McAuliffe on the Republican ticket is business-outsider Glenn Youngkin. Youngkin’s campaign website does not feature any policy platforms; however, he has suggested in media appearances decreasing taxes and even eliminating the state income tax, which accounts for over 70% of the state’s revenue.

“I have made the choice to get vaccinated and encourage everyone to join me in doing that, but ultimately it is a personal decision to do so,” Youngkin said in a written statement to The Flat Hat. “Virginia is already struggling to recover from the pandemic due to failed Democratic leadership, and now Terry McAuliffe wants to ‘make life difficult’ for Virginians, businesses, and schools by issuing a government mandate that attempts to bully them into complying with what McAuliffe and the government thinks is best, and that will clearly evolve into closing down businesses, schools, and locking down Virginia again.”

Despite Younkin’s claim, there is little to suggest that a government mandate will lead to businesses and schools closing — in fact, the Virginia Department of Health website states that as more people are vaccinated, the more people can “slowly return to doing the things we enjoy.” 

While Virginia schools and businesses do not currently have a state-issued COVID-19 vaccine mandate, most K-12 and higher education institutions already require students to receive vaccines against diseases such as polio, hepatitis and whooping cough. These diseases, which were once extremely prevalent and harmful in the United States, have been virtually wiped out due to mandated vaccines and herd immunity. 

Similar to McAulliffe, Youngkin reached out to the College and met with Rowe on the same day.

“We’ve been pleased to welcome multiple gubernatorial candidates to campus recently,” College spokesperson Suzanne Clavet said in a written statement. “We’re grateful to share our university’s preparations for a healthy semester as well as highlight the efforts of our higher education colleagues around the commonwealth.”

Boojala closed the discussion by attributing the campus’ successful response to the pandemic to the students’ engagement and devotion toward their community. 

“I wanted to be here today because William and Mary has really led our educational institutions in dealing with the COVID crisis,” McAuliffe said. “I am so proud that they’ve come out, they’ve always had masks required inside and outside, and now they’re requiring every student to be vaccinated. So they’re leading the way, you know, we’ve got to keep our schools open here in Virginia. I’ve got to build a strong economy as governor and the only way we’re going to be able to do that is to end this horrible pandemic. And if everybody followed the way William and Mary has, we’re gonna be able to do this a lot quicker. They’ve been great. They’re a great example for the rest of Virginia.”

The gubernatorial election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Incumbent Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is unable to run, as Virginia does not allow governors to serve consecutive terms.