Hundreds Turn Up To Protest Rutgers' Vaccine Mandate For Students

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — There were hundreds of people who turned out Friday on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, protesting the fact that Rutgers is requiring all students who wish to return to campus this fall prove they have been vaccinated against coronavirus.

Rutgers is not making the same requirement of its teachers, who are instead only "encouraged" to get the vaccine.

Friday's protest was organized by the Rutgers branch of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), the student Libertarian group, and Turning Point USA, a nationwide conservative student political group.

"There are hundreds here, I want to say up to 500 maybe," said Sara Razi, a Rutgers junior, Turning Point and YAL member, who has been extremely vocal against the vaccine mandate.

"We have students here, adults, parents, people brought their little children. It's amazing," she said. Razi said she was "happily surprised" by the turnout.

Rutgers Police put the crowd estimate at 400.

Friday's rally also attracted a cadre of New Jersey Republican political leaders: South Jersey state Senator Mike Testa (R-1), Monmouth County Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (R) and Monmouth Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R) addressed the crowd.

Razi said she thought she saw Republican gubernatorial front-runner Jack Ciattarelli in the crowd, but said she couldn't be sure. His spokeswoman has not confirmed if Ciattarelli was there.

"I talked about forcing kids to go out of state to go to school, separating families because of it," DiMaso told Patch of her speech. "I also said that together we beat down removal of the religious exemption, how they beat that drum until the majority gave in."

DiMaso is referring to when New Jersey tried to remove the religious exemption parents could use to not have their child vaccinated; that attempt failed in December 2019 when hundreds of New Jersey families pushed back to save the religious exemption.

The rally will go from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at Brower Commons at 145 College Avenue.

Parent Alicia Gross, whose daughter will be a Rutgers senior this fall, previously told Patch she would be attending Friday's rally.

"She wants to be on campus for her last semester, and as her mother I don't believe it's fair to mandate a vaccine that seems unnecessary with all the therapeutics available," said Gross. "I am very concerned about adverse health effects for her. Why the forceful mandate?"

Razi said she wanted to stress that she supports vaccines but is against Rutgers students being required to take one, especially as professors are not mandated.

"We chanted 'My body, my choice,'" she said Friday. "I want to say to the public that we may be the minority in the United States, but we are loud, we are strong and we are fighting back. We will not be controlled by our government. We want to make personal medical decisions for ourselves."

First Patch report: Rutgers Students Opposed To Vaccine Mandate Hold Campus Protest

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