It has been more than a month since the SUNY Oswego vaccine mandate went into effect on Sept. 27. 

The campus was able to reach 98% compliance shortly after that date, according to an email from SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley. An update has not been provided since but the numbers were expected to increase further according to Stanley. 

This would put SUNY Oswego hand in hand with the compliance rate of all SUNY schools of 99.5% according to an Oct. 13 SUNY press release. This has put SUNY Oswego, and all SUNY schools in general, at an advantage to combat the pandemic, with a vaccination rate far higher than the national average of college age students, 18-24 years old, with at least one vaccine. That rate sits around 65% currently. 

The vaccine mandate has put SUNY schools in position to potentially drop their current mask mandates. However, the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance of masking indoors while in counties of substantial or high levels of COVID-19 transmissions has prevented this from happening. 

SUNY chancellor Jim Malatras has credited the return to normal activities at SUNY schools to the high vaccine numbers. 

“There is a new energy on our campuses this semester because we have fully reopened,” Malatras said. “The main reason we’ve been able to is because our students have stepped up and have gotten vaccinated. Our students have told us they wanted to get back on campus, return to the classrooms, reconnect with their friends, and participate in live, on-campus events, like athletics and the arts.” 

This energy has been seen on the SUNY Oswego campus as athletic events have seen full stands throughout the fall, the theatre department was able to return to Waterman theatre and the “Green and Gold” photo on Founders Weekend returned with smiling faces embracing closely outside of the Marano Campus Center. 

The attitude of students varies on the semester and how the vaccine mandate has helped the return to normal. The chief complaint being the mask-wearing still being required, even as COVID-19 cases amongst SUNY Oswego residential students have dwindled down throughout the semester. 

 “I don’t like [the mask mandate]. Not one bit. We’re all vaccinated. I get why we have them, but I just think it’s a little overblown,” Noah Moore, senior journalism major said.

In regards to the vaccine mandate, however, Moore said he agrees with it. “I think it’s useful for everybody. I’m a bit worried about people who are immunocompromised.” 

For SUNY Oswego junior Lily Clark, she was delighted with the mandate when it occurred. 

“I am very happy with the vaccine mandate,” Clark said. “It makes me feel so much safer that I am with students who value the health of our community, and I feel comfortable in public knowing that my peers are vaccinated.”

A large reason for the content with the policy for Clark was the ability this allowed for her to be involved in the student media organizations again. 

Clark, who is the vice president of Human Resources for WTOP-10 and the Director of Public Relations for WNYO 88.9 FM, is now able to do these jobs in-person and be involved in the social aspects of these clubs. Something that was completely missing her sophomore year on campus during the height of COVID-19 before a vaccine was available. 

The next part of the equation for SUNY Oswego will be eventually reevaluating the mask mandate in place. Even though the CDC guidelines were not particularly cited in Stanley’s email from late September on why masking would remain in place, the language of the memo was based around the threat of spread in the general city of Oswego community being high. There is still no clear metric on when it would be appropriate for SUNY Oswego to reconsider the policy. 

Clark believes the masks help but a time will come to ditch them. 

“I think masks certainly help keep our cases down,” Clark said. “But eventually there will be a time where we should reevaluate.”

SUNY Oswego student Jacob Johnson, a senior who is also an active member of the student media organizations, does not see the need for the masks as of now. 

“Now I feel that if we are vaccinated the mask mandate should be gone,” Johnson said. “But unfortunately I do not see that happening for a while. If we have the mandate, masks should be gone.” 

Johnson goes further in attacking the mandate, citing it as an infringement on the individual rights of students. He believes that students would have come to that decision on their own. The safety of a campus being fully vaccinated has made Johnson feel indifferent to his safety compared to before the vaccine mandate, but acknowledges that other students do feel safer. 

Without a date to reevaluate the mask mandate or a specific update provided on the vaccine compliance, it has left the State University in a state of limbo regarding the next step. The decision has also drifted into the lame duck days of the presidency of Stanley, as her successor will be named before Dec. 31 of this year. The decision could potentially be one of the first important decisions of the soon to be named school president if it drifts into the spring semester.

Kailee Montross | The Oswegonian