Kalamazoo College believes the entire college community is best served when every student is immunized. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most vaccine-preventable diseases are spread from person to person. If one person in a community gets an infectious disease, that person can spread it to others who are not immunized. The more people who are immunized, the fewer opportunities a disease has to spread.
For the safety of our students and our campus, students will not be allowed to move into residence halls, participate in athletics (including tryouts, practices, or competitions), participate in LandSea, or start classes until up to date with the following immunizations: Hepatitis B, Meningitis Quad, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Polio, Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), and Varicella (Chicken Pox). Kalamazoo College will also require Tuberculosis (TB) screening or testing for individuals who fall into high-risk groups. To ensure the continuous safety of our students and our campus, Kalamazoo College reserves the right to modify this policy and/or the required immunizations at any time and for any reason.
In addition to ensuring the safety and health of our campus community, Kalamazoo College is committed to fostering a campus climate that recognizes and respects the differences in our student population. Students who object to the immunization requirement may seek an immunization accommodation for medical or religious reasons. The College retains the sole discretion to approve or deny such requests. The Immunization Accommodation Forms and due dates are available through the Student Health Center. The Vaccine Waiver Board will review the Accommodation Form and will contact the student regarding the nature of their request.
General philosophical or moral reluctance to allow immunizations is not a sufficient basis for an accommodation, and Kalamazoo College will not grant any accommodation that compromises the health or safety of our students, staff, or faculty. The accommodation-seeking student has the heavy burden of demonstrating how the proposed accommodation will not jeopardize the health and safety of the College community. Please note that while the College will consider each accommodation request, based on information provided to and reviewed by the College to date, the likelihood of receiving an exemption to the immunization requirement is very rare.
A student who is granted an immunization accommodation is subject to the following restrictions:
- Travel: Students deficient in any of the above immunizations will not be allowed to travel outside of the United States on a Kalamazoo College-sponsored trip, including any programs sponsored by the Center for International Programs (study abroad). Students may not be allowed to travel within the United States on a Kalamazoo College-sponsored trip (including study away programs) if the trip may put the non-immunized student, any member of the traveling group, or any member of the Kalamazoo College community at risk.
- Outbreak of Disease: Students may be subject to exclusion from the Kalamazoo College campus if a case of one of the above vaccine-preventable diseases (or any disease related to the diseases listed above) is identified on campus. The student is responsible for any loss of fees, credit hours, and/or missed assignments associated with this leave.
- Housing: Before granting an accommodation, Kalamazoo College will inform all roommates of the non-immunized student that the non-immunized student has not obtained the required immunizations. The non-immunized student may be required to change their living arrangements should any roommate object to rooming with the non-immunized student because of their lack of immunizations.
Kalamazoo College reserves the right to modify these restrictions at any time and for any reason.