Saturday, Jan. 15, on his first day in office, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed 11 Executive Actions, three of which affect public education institutions in Virginia — including the College of William and Mary. Executive Directive Number Two directly affects all “executive branch employees,” including higher education employees, while Executive Orders Number One and Two affect Virginia K-12 public schools. The executive actions significantly roll back the policies of former Democratic Governor Ralph Northam.
Executive Directive Number Two states that executive branch employers are not allowed to require the COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment, meaning faculty and staff at the College are no longer required to be vaccinated or show proof of vaccination.
During the signing ceremony of the 11 executive actions, Youngkin addressed his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine. He noted that although both he and his wife have both been fully vaccinated and boosted, he is against vaccine mandates, arguing that they infringe upon personal liberties.
“Let me be clear, I continue to be an absolutely staunch advocate for the vaccine,” Youngkin said. “I’ve gotten the vaccine, I’ve gotten the booster; Suzanne has gotten the vaccine and gotten the booster. We believe it is the best way to keep your family safe. But we also believe that individual liberty counts, it matters. Therefore, rather than mandate, we’re going to work to educate, we’re going to work to have colleagues talk to colleagues, but allow people to make decisions about their own health.”
In College President Katherine Rowe’s community conversation with members of the College’s COVID-19 response team, Chief Operating Officer Amy Sebring announced that the College will comply with the new directive. Though vaccines and boosters are still required for students, they are no longer required for the College’s employees.
“William and Mary announced yesterday that we are moving to strongly recommend vaccines and boosters for all employees,” Sebring said. “Although they are no longer required, the research continues to show that the best way to protect yourself is to be vaccinated and boosted as soon as you’re eligible. Executive Directive Two also goes further and says that mandatory disclosure of vaccine status is also prohibited. So going forward, William and Mary will no longer require that. Although, we do ask employees if they are willing to provide information on the vaccination status, so that can help inform our testing response and quarantine and isolation should you need it.”
In light of this ruling rescinding vaccine mandates, some students and employees of the College are worried about the repercussions for the portion of employees yet to be vaccinated or boosted for COVID-19.
Student Assembly President Meghana Boojala ’22 spoke on the response from students that she has heard regarding Youngkin’s directive.
“On the net, students are pretty concerned, I think, so am I,” Boojala said. “I think if there is one thing that made William and Mary very successful over the past three, four semesters, it has been the mask mandate and the vaccine mandate.”
Boojala also noted that students should be mindful towards professors, since they are often of older age and of greater risk for complications with COVID-19 than their younger students.
“If your professor isn’t vaccinated, then they’re more vulnerable to getting COVID, and they’re usually older than us; there’s that risk that students have to be wary of,” Boojala said.
However, as Sebring noted in Wednesday’s community conversation, the College has a highly vaccinated and boosted community, with vaccinations and boosters still required for students. According to Sebring, as of Jan. 18, over 96% of the campus’s students are vaccinated, with almost 82% of students boosted.
“For employees, we’ve got almost 95% of our employees vaccinated and, again, as of yesterday, over 75% reported that they’ve already received a booster,” Sebring said.
“For employees, we’ve got almost 95% of our employees vaccinated and, again, as of yesterday, over 75% reported that they’ve already received a booster,” Sebring said.
Although the College moved to “strongly recommend” vaccinations and boosters for its faculty and staff, some College employees are calling for the administration to take a more direct stance against the governor’s directive.
Jasper Conner is a Ph.D. Candidate of the College’s History Department and a long-standing member of the W&M Workers Union, where he is the social media chair. Conner took a strong stance against the governor’s new executive actions, calling for non-compliance.
“I would encourage President Rowe to ignore directives from the state that put us at risk,” Conner said. “In the same way that my kid’s school district here in Richmond is choosing to ignore these policies that they think are destructive and believe that they have a legal right to do that. That is what needs to be done. People need to stand up and take responsibility for the world we live in.”
Earlier this year, Richmond City School Board’s decided to challenge Youngkin’s Executive Order Number Two, which rescinds mask mandates in Virginia public K-12 schools. Richmond City is one of the many school boards across Virginia speaking out against the executive order.
Executive Order Numbers One and Two deal with issues in public K-12 schools, specifically mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory. According to Governor Youngkin, Executive Order Number Two, which prohibits mask mandates in public K-12 school, is “reaffirming the rights of parents in the upbringing, education, and care of their children.” The order allows parents to make the decision for their children, without needing to provide a reason, about whether or not their child wears a mask in public K-12 schools. The order nullifies the former governor’s mask requirement in K-12 public schools, while also rescinding Executive Order Number 79, regarding masking and COVID-19.
However, some school districts across the commonwealth are pushing back. Jan. 24, seven school boards across the state of Virginia announced that they are suing and challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order Number Two. The collective seven boards argue that the order violates Article 8, Section 7 of the Virginia Constitution, which states “the supervision of schools in each school division shall be vested in a school board.”
In a public statement on Jan. 21, Youngkin addressed the controversy and ongoing legal situation.
“I have said all along that we are going to stand up for parents,” Youngkin said. “Executive Order Two is not about pro-masks versus anti-mask, it’s about empowering parents. I am confident that the Virginia Supreme Court will rule in the favor of parents.”
“I have said all along that we are going to stand up for parents,” Youngkin said. “Executive Order Two is not about pro-masks versus anti-mask, it’s about empowering parents. I am confident that the Virginia Supreme Court will rule in the favor of parents.”
However, Conner sees the actions of school districts as an empowerment of teachers.
“Teachers are a guiding light for the labor movement right now,” Conner said. “They have gone on strike when they are not allowed to. They are organizing and fighting for their own jobs, but also for the welfare of the children they teach. When the school districts back the teachers fighting for these things it’s even stronger. So, more power to them all. Across the state they all need to step up and protect the kids.”
“Teachers are a guiding light for the labor movement right now,” Conner said. “They have gone on strike when they are not allowed to. They are organizing and fighting for their own jobs, but also for the welfare of the children they teach. When the school districts back the teachers fighting for these things it’s even stronger. So, more power to them all. Across the state they all need to step up and protect the kids.”
Youngkin also announced Executive Order Number One “to ensure excellence in K-12 public education in the Commonwealth by taking the first step on Day One to end the use of inherently divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, and to raise academic standards”. The order bans the teaching of Critical Race Theory, a subject that is already not widely taught in Virginia public schools.
Although Executive Directive Two is the only action that directly affects the College, Boojala also noted that there may be an affect on how students pay attention to gubernatorial politics.
“I think especially with the current governor and with the recent EOs and EDs with COVID, I think it’s forcing us to tune in more, because at the end of the day, any effect will trickle down to the students,” Boojala said. “So if anything, anytime SA feels like students are about to be negatively impacted, we will elevate our voices more.”
Boojala also noted that students and employees of the College are in good hands with the current COVID response team.
“Regardless of the governor, I think our university has a really really good team countering COVID right now,” Boojala said. “I see the way they move and it’s very flexible and multifaceted all the time. Be educated with what the university is doing. Read the path forward page, read the emails from the chief operating officer. Read those emails, because a lot of those details actually help a lot. Stay in touch with what’s happening in Richmond, but also keep in touch with what’s happening at the university.”
