Why hasn’t Seneca College dropped their vaccine mandate yet?

On Thursday, June 23, we at Rebel News went down to a Seneca College campus, the same campus that shares its location with York University.

We asked students and faculty members from both institutions for their opinions on how they feel about York having dropped their mandates already, but Seneca has not.

“I’m all for vaccines, I think that people should be vaccinated because it keeps us safe. But it is unfair, I mean one school dropped their mandate, but the other didn't. I don't know. It’s hypocritical,” said a York student.

Nearly a year ago, President of Seneca College David Agnew wrote an article for the Toronto Star, explaining his decision on why Seneca was the first post-secondary school to implement the vaccine mandate.

“Honestly, in my 12 years as president, it was one of the easiest decisions,” Angew said. “When the vaccines finally arrived on our shores, we joined the chorus of public health officials, medical experts and government leaders in exhorting everyone to get the jab as soon as they possibly could.”

Adding on to Seneca’s discrimination, unvaccinated graduates from the year 2019-2021 are unable to attend their own graduation.

Seneca’s graduation will be held at the MTCC (Metro Toronto Convention Center) on Monday June 27 and Tuesday June 28.

During the midst of the pandemic when COVID numbers were skyrocketing, most institutions switched to online learning, and most graduation ceremonies were canceled. However, most places, if not all have now dropped their mandates, and with over 83% of Canadians being fully vaccinated. So, it doesn’t make sense that Seneca College still has their mandate still in place.

I myself am a graduate from 2021, so it is disappointing that my fellow classmates and graduates are not allowed to attend a graduation event. They are not even students anymore, but rather alumni who just want to celebrate their accomplishments.

Check out this report to hear what students and faculty members have to say about this.