Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ALBUQUERQUE — Eastern New Mexico University regents on Friday stressed that following a year of COVID-related shutdowns of in-person learning, another semester of the same was the last thing anybody wanted.
But low vaccination rates and high case counts in their university counties have regents concerned, and they said the colleges can't defeat the pandemic on their own.
Regents didn't take any action regarding COVID-19 practices at the college, but a discussion item placed on the agenda by Board President Dan Patterson elicited more than a half hour of conversation about concerns spring semesters may have to go virtual if things don't improve.
The university system, which includes the main campus in Portales and branch campuses in Roswell and Ruidoso, does not have any vaccine mandates. Chancellor Patrice Caldwell said, the Higher Education Department has so far chosen to leave those matters with each college's respective board. Eastern New Mexico University has not followed the University of New Mexico in requiring students to be vaccinated, and has instead chosen an encouragement path that rewards students and employees with $100 bonuses for showing proof of full vaccination.
“We have no appreciable movement in any of our three counties that supports mandatory vaccination,” Caldwell said of Roosevelt, Chaves and Lincoln counties. “Vaccines have become political. I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying that's become a fact in the southeastern part of the state.”
Caldwell said any vaccine mandate would lead to student pushback; “We know there was student pushback (at UNM), because some of them transferred to Eastern.” Caldwell had no intent to be negative, but said appeals to vaccination have been met with considerable resistance.
Board Vice President Lance Pyle, who also serves as Curry County manager, said the information municipalities are putting out isn't reaching because the matter has gotten political.
Pyle said before the meeting, he looked up Roosevelt County COVID-19 numbers and saw a rate of 47.4 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, test positivity of 10.77% and full vaccination at 35%. Even if the university mandates vaccines and has full buy-in, regents said, that only represents a fraction of the county population and may only have a minimal dent in infection rates.
“The community needs to help us keep the university open,” Pyle said. “We cannot get the virus under control without the community's help.”
Patterson echoed sentiments the colleges could not do it by themselves, and citizens have to help keep their universities open and their economies going
“We have to tell them, 'It's your problem just as much as it is ours,'” Patterson said. “I don't care what their political backgrounds are. If they don't help, the community, we may have to shut down and the community would suffer economically. We have to keep saying that.”
Regent Trish Ruiz, a counselor in the Hobbs school district, said the college should consider a vaccine mandate of some type. She noted at one Hobbs campus, there were 21 staff members out that day with either a positive COVID-19 test or a quarantine requirement. Ruiz noted she hates seeing the daily case counts and wondering if Lea County will beat Bernalillo County despite having around a 10th of the population.
“I think that's something we need to look at,” Ruiz said. “I think it comes down to protecting our students, protecting our community and making sure we can keep our doors open and provide a quality education. Big universities are doing it.”
Pyle floated the idea of tying spring semesters to vaccination rates in each county. If a county doesn't reach a certain vaccination percentage by the end of the year, for instance, the spring semester may end up virtual.
“We may want to send it out there,” Pyle said, noting the regents have a responsibility to staff and students. “We've got to get out ahead of it.”
In other COVID-19 developments:
• The New Mexico Department of Health reported 885 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, including 29 cases in Curry County and four in Roosevelt County.
So far in September, Curry County has confirmed 210 new cases and Roosevelt County 97.
None of the 20 deaths reported Friday were from Curry or Roosevelt counties, but Curry County reported one death each on Tuesday and Wednesday reports.
• Clovis High School, citing lack of available staff, reverted to remote learning on Friday. A Wednesday release from Clovis Municipal Schools said the school expected to return to in-person learning Monday, and reminded the community of a shared responsibility to reduce the spread of the virus.
