With August here, seniors are weeks away from beginning their Queens College classes, and as this term arrives, a new policy is in place for accessing campus after CUNY officially removed the vaccine mandate this past spring for all faculty and students.
In a CUNY press release, Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said “We are confident that this is the appropriate time for CUNY to lift the COVID vaccine requirement as a condition of enrollment or employment, though we continue to encourage all students, faculty and staff to stay up to date with vaccinations.”
Following the return to campus, Queens College required THHS seniors to demonstrate their vaccination status to access campus. As classes began in August 2021, the back door at THHS was not open for senior to access QC campus, ensuring students had to enter campus from official entry points where their status would be checked.
A Classic article from October 2021 reported that seniors took to joining class via Zoom rather than entering the campus through the official gates. According to the article, “the walk to the main entrance [was] lengthy, along with the wait for ID scanning and approval. This [increased] seniors’ likelihood of being late to both QC and THHS classes. Consequently, some seniors [attended] their QC classes through Zoom as an alternative to walking to campus.”
According to the CUNY press release, QC will no longer use the Cleared4 health verification system and can now go back to its previous practices for granting entry to the campus.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have consistently put health and safety first while balancing it against our core mission of providing access to higher education to the greatest extent possible,” Chancellor Rodriguez said. “We will continue to consult with public health experts, closely monitor data and adhere to all pertinent federal, state and city guidance should policies need to be modified moving forward.”
Though reporting suggests a rise in COVID-19 infections recently, the numbers remain low compared to previous summers.
THHS students can expect to return to school for QC courses starting on August 25.
