Boulder County’s indoor mask requirement ends today, except on the University of Colorado campus, where earlier this week the CU Boulder Public Health Office announced it would continue the campus mask requirement despite the county’s decision. This prompted CU Regent and gubernatorial hopeful Heidi Ganahl to call on her own institution to “drop the mandates.”
Responding to a commenter asking if she has always opposed vaccine mandates, Ganahl wrote, “Yes I have, I put forward a resolution at CU to stop mandates last year.”
Last year Ganahl voted to oppose the CU administration’s decision to require COVID vaccinations, supporting a resolution brought by her then-colleague Chance Hill, who has since resigned.
At a campaign event last October, Ganahl asked far-right pundit Dennis Prager for advice on how college students could push back against campus vaccine mandates. Prager answered that giving the vaccine to children, including college students, was “pure undiluted child abuse.”
Ganahl later posted her tweet about dropping the “mandates” to multiple Republican Facebook pages, adding an additional sentence.
“I trust CU students and faculty to make good decisions for their own health and safety,” Ganahl wrote. “It’s time to drop the mandates! As CU Regent I have fought against mandates and now, I’m imploring you to end our mask and vaccine mandates at universities now.”
The COVID vaccine is but a new addition to a list of vaccines mandated for Colorado college students for decades. A state law passed in 1978 requires students at all schools, including the University of Colorado, to show proof of multiple vaccinations.
“All students enrolled in any school in Colorado on and after August 15, 1979, shall furnish the required certificate of immunization or shall be suspended or expelled from school.” CRS 25-4-906.
In addition to the COVID vaccine and booster, CU Boulder’s immunization requirements include the Measles, Mups & Rubella (MMR) vaccine as well as a Meningitis vaccine for those students under 23 living in campus housing.
Ganahl did not respond to an email inquiry as to whether she opposes all vaccine mandates or just the one for COVID. Given her explanation that she trusts students “to make good decisions for their own health and safety,” the Colorado Times Recorder also asked if she opposes the university’s requirement that students have health insurance. This article will be updated with any response received.
