It was nerve wracking, to say the least; having a high school student who had gotten into his dream college in mid-December 2020 but was uncertain if he could attend the following fall due to Covid-19 vaccine mandates. Those harrowing days and nights we spent focusing on little else as we scoured college websites to eventually find what we pretty much expected would come to pass.

It started in April of 2021 when Rutgers University and then Harvard University announced their students would be required to take Covid-19 vaccines prior to enrollment. In these early days, I remember thinking that surely, they will reveal some scientific data showing these vaccines could prevent transmission and severe illness or death to justify the mandates, but alas, the wait was in vain.

Living up to their cult behavior reputation, by the summer of 2021, over 1,000 colleges announced the exact same fear-fueled narrative and implemented some of the world’s most oppressive mandate policies. By August, millions of college students would be mandated to take primary series Covid-19 vaccines prior to enrollment, many without enough notice to get their deposits back, transfer colleges, or even file for an exemption. The directive was clear: take these novel medical treatments with zero scientific evidence to show you need them, or don’t bother showing up. …

On April 5, 2024, Representative Mark Messmer (R-IN) introduced H.R. 3044, and it has gained widespread support. This newly introduced legislation proposes to codify EO 14214 by promising to “withhold federal funds for any college or university that continues to mandate a required COVID-19 vaccination.” It is a good start as it is generally harder for a future administration to reverse a bill that has become law rather than an Executive Order, but our position is that the bill is incomplete. No College Mandates, which has led the fight to end all college student Covid-19 vaccine mandates, along with several signatories, has formally requested that before the bill becomes law, it must be amended.

For H.R. 3044 to definitively end all Covid-19 vaccine mandates in higher education, it must be amended to explicitly include all teaching programs required for health science students to complete their degree. To clarify, not only must federal funding be removed from all colleges, universities, and any other institutions that continue to mandate Covid-19 vaccines, but also all teaching programs at hospitals and clinical partners with whom these institutions contract to provide practical training so that students can freely apply to and enter practicums, clinical rotations, internships, and residencies which all degree-granting institutions have made a requirement for graduation.

A few weeks ago, we mailed this letter to all the Representatives who are supporting this bill, requesting explicit amendments including those outlined in the previous paragraph. We have also emailed the letter to each of the senior staff members and have followed up with several phone calls making our case. From the positive feedback we continue to receive, we are hopeful that the Representatives are willing to consider and incorporate our proposed amendments to H.R. 3044.