First I want to thank everyone in CAV Nation for doing your part to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As of today, we have five self-reported cases and thanks to your efforts and diligence, we continue to keep the virus at bay. In the midst of other universities recently changing their protocols with the FDA approval last week, you may be wondering if Walsh is planning to change its position. Our position holds firm. We are on strongly encouraging but NOT requiring the vaccination. Our plan is to continue to stay the course.
Ever since the Nuremberg Code of 1947 that formed the ethical basis of all research and treatments today, the very first principle articulated, accepted, and applied is the principle of voluntary participation.
For me personally, I looked at a significant amount of data, discussed the common good with many, and then decided that the risk was manageable for my medical condition – so I was willingly vaccinated.
But my personal acceptance of the vaccination does not mean the risk-reward ratio is the same for all and it does not suggest that arriving at a different selection of prevention or treatment is any less contributory to the common good.
Now that the initial surge has passed, we must engage in a vibrant national conversation on other tools to fight the virus as well, such as the impact of natural immunity.
Masks and vaccines are not the only solutions for current and future phases of COVID-19 – and it is unreasonable to mandate a “one solution for all” approach.
The American Nuremberg Military Tribunal that began in October 1946 – a trial intended to hold accountable the perpetrators of forced medical experiments on human subjects against their will – reminds us that requiring everyone to take this vaccination and the soon-to-be booster shots without the necessary evidence of the long-term effects is imprudent – this should be voluntary.
Few of us would ask a major corporation or our political leadership what should be done for high blood pressure, headaches, or broken bones because neither entity has the necessary competence in the health sciences.
Similarly with our nation’s colleges and universities – they, likewise, have no competency to wedge their organizations between health care providers and their patients.
As a matter of historical fact, our colleges and universities have been the guardians of voluntary participation, or “informed consent,” for all research with an Institutional Review Board process that is present on nearly every campus in America.
Yet today we see higher education leadership across the country abandoning the ethical principles that guide us without sufficient evidence addressing the long-term medical and physical effects for what they are demanding of their respective communities.
We must step back from the ledge, adjust our understanding of the risks involved in the many and varied treatment options for a virus that has not been eradicated, and return to modeling the ethical principles America established in 1947 for the world as the result of untold human suffering of the past – and, thus, prevent it in the future.
Now is the time for bold leadership to ask the critical questions that further prevention and treatment recommendations aligned with the common good and meet the long-term needs of the nation.
Thank you for your diligence in following the Seven to Remember. Please continue to seek guidance from your personal health care provider and make good judgements for the common good.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us. — Tim Collins
For President Collins' article on this topic in Inside Higher Ed, click here.
