A school administrator’s son from Media discovered his Millersville University roommate was not vaccinated so he asked for a vaccinated roommate, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The university could make no guarantees. His next roommate was also unvaccinated.

The university offered him a private room, but at that point, the student had already opted to enroll at a private university in New York that mandated student vaccines.

 “We thought we had no choice,” the boy’s father said. “We had to go somewhere else. That’s what the last year and a half has been about, trying to protect ourselves.”

At this point, the universities are treating a vaccinated roommate request the same as any other request for a roommate change.

There are 14 state universities in Pennsylvania that say they can’t legally mandate student vaccines.

From the universities’ point of view, housing unvaccinated students together could actually increase the risk of an outbreak.

“It’s safer to mix the populations than it is to segregate a whole residence hall or even a whole entire floor filled with unvaccinated students…” said Dr. Jean E. Chin, a former co-chair of the American College Health Association’s COVID-19 task force.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about vaccination policies at colleges.

The Wall Street Journal looks at the debate over mandatory vaccinations on college campuses.