Pitt-Johnstown faculty sign petition for stronger mitigation efforts, mandatory vaccinations

Aug. 25—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A group of faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, led by assistant professor of biology Christine Dahlin, has submitted a petition to President Jem Spectar calling for increased COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including a vaccine mandate for students, faculty and staff.

"I'm really concerned about the delta variant and the fact that it's causing COVID to resurge," Dahlin said.

The idea for the petition was born from a conversation the assistant professor had with a group of other concerned faculty who had strong feelings about the pandemic, she said.

That group doesn't think the university is doing enough to keep everyone safe — despite praise Tuesday from Noe Ortega, Pennsylvania Department of Education secretary.

Dahlin said she and the other faculty "felt that with the delta variant, not having a vaccine mandate was irresponsible."

Initially, state-related colleges and universities couldn't require students to get inoculated against COVID-19.

But now that the Pfizer vaccine has received FDA approval, that could be done, according to Pitt-Johnstown assistant professor of biology Jill Henning.

She noted that the university has done well mitigating the virus thus far, but supports the petition.

"We are doing a good job," she said. "It's time to do better."

Henning noted that other vaccinations are required of students, staff and faculty.

She said the COVID-19 booster should be added to that list.

The petition was sent to various faculty and staff asking them to sign on if they agree.

It's open to the Pitt-Johnstown community as well as the greater Johnstown community, Dahlin said.

Dahlin said the document was sent to Spectar on Tuesday evening, and she hopes it spreads throughout the entire Pitt university system.

She also said the petitioners are sympathetic to the school leadership.

"All of us who drafted the petition, we understand that this is an incredibly challenging time for the administration," Dahlin said.

However, they want to make sure the focus remains on keeping everyone safe, she said.

Dahlin said she is "very hopeful" that the Pitt-Johnstown administration will act on the petition soon.

Spectar's office did not respond immediately to a request for a response to the petition.