LSU Won’t Require Students to Get a Covid Shot But They Did Vaccinate Their Mascot Mike the Tiger

Sarah RumpfAug 12th, 2021, 5:20 pm
 
LSU mascot mike the tiger

Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images.

As the fall semester kicks off, schools have had to decide what policies they will enact regarding mask and vaccine mandates for their students, teachers, and staff. For Louisiana State University, they made sure to vaccinate their mascot, Mike the Tiger, but won’t be requiring students to get the shot.

“Be like Mike!” the official Mike the Tiger Twitter account urged his followers, sharing the news of Mike’s vaccination and encouraging them to get their own vaccine.

Mike, a Bengal-Siberian Tiger mix, received his first dose of the vaccine on July 16, and the second dose on Aug. 6. The big cat is under the care of his very own personal veterinarian from LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine, who supervises a team of other veterinarians, assistants, and two veterinary students who handle his day-to-day care.

According to a report by The Advocate, LSU President William F. Tate IV, announced the university’s policies in a statement to students and staff, allowing students to opt out of getting vaccinated as long as they were tested on a monthly basis:

“We require all students to submit proof of either a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Unvaccinated students must test on a monthly basis throughout the semester,” he wrote. “For the fall semester, we extended the mask mandate currently in place, which means masks or face coverings continue to be required indoors at all times, except when individuals are alone in their offices. This is consistent with the governor’s recent order. In addition, we require masks outdoors within 50 feet of entrances to buildings.”

LSU faculty had openly urged Tate to require students to get vaccinated. LSU Professor and Faculty Senate Representative for the College of Music and Dramatic Arts Inessa Bazayev described the faculty reaction to Tate’s policy as “grateful with what has happened so far, but it’s not enough.”

“Monthly testing seems inadequate,” Bazayev told The Advocate. “Our concern is, it’s one thing to mask in the classroom, but students will still go to parties and gatherings and not be masked.”

The nine public colleges in the University of Louisiana System are also not requiring their students to get vaccinated, and neither will the state’s community colleges. A spokesman for Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) confirmed that he had discussed vaccine policies with the colleges but would not interfere.

Both the LSU System and UL System have asked the Louisiana Department of Health to add the Covid-19 vaccine to the list of mandatory vaccines once the FDA has issued full approval. Currently, the three vaccines used in the U.S. (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) have received emergency use authorization, not full approval.

Nationwide, over 600 colleges and universities — both public and private — are requiring their students to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.