LSU unenrolling students for failing to comply with vaccine rules

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Louisiana State University (LSU) has started the process of unenrolling students who failed to comply with COVID-19 entry procedures. 

Seventy-eight students received an email Tuesday evening informing them that they had been "resigned" from the college and provided a 50% refund. 

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"As a student, you were sent numerous notifications regarding the Entry Test Requirement and reminders to comply. Should you want to re-enroll at the university, you must complete the Entry Test Verification Survey. You will then need to email the Office of Academic Affairs at academicaffairs@lsu.com stating your desire to be reinstated and added back to your courses," the email read. 

The deadline to reenroll is 4 p.m. CT on Friday. 

In an email to Fox News on Thursday morning, LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard confirmed the move. 

"The goal from the start has been to get everyone in compliance, but while the number has shrunk, those 78 have been contacted that they are being unenrolled from the university," he said. "These students did not comply with the COVID entry procedures."

Ballard added that in order to comply with LSU's COVID-19 fall 2021 entry protocols all students are required to provide either proof of a negative COVID-19 test result, proof of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a positive COVID-19 test result no more than 90 days prior to arrival on the Baton Rouge campus.

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This comes as LSU President William Tate said students would have to show proof of their first vaccine dose by Sept. 10 and show proof of full vaccination by Oct. 15.

In a virtual news conference held at the White House on Wednesday, Tate initially said that the university had been waiting for 400 students to turn in vaccine proof or opt for monthly testing, Lara Nicholson, the editor-in-chief of LSU's student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, tweeted.

This follows Ballard's announcement last week that around 1,200 of the 34,000 enrolled students had yet to comply with the protocol, according to The Advocate.

The outlet said a text message had been sent to those students.

Tate was in Washington, D.C., to meet with President Biden and discuss LSU's "successful COVID mitigation strategies."

"It is an honor to present our successful COVID mitigation strategies to President Biden and the COVID Response Team, and we are proud that our multi-tiered approach to protecting our students, faculty and staff has been recognized at such an incredibly high level," Tate said in a Wednesday news release. "Our strategies have worked, with more than 81% of our student body currently vaccinated, a monthly testing protocol that monitors the presence of the virus on our campus, wastewater testing that allows us to intervene before an outbreak occurs, and a vaccine/testing mandate at Tiger Stadium to keep our fans safe, too. We are grateful for the privilege of celebrating how far we have come and sharing the game plan with others who might be able to benefit from the knowledge."

Nicholson wrote that Tate said he was "also in talks with athletics about stations at Tiger Stadium that were not closely checking vaccine cards for non-students."

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In a video posted to the LSU Twitter account, Tate said that 80% of on-campus students and 70% of faculty and staff have shown proof of getting at least the first shot of the vaccine. 

LSU's COVID-19 dashboard currently shows that there are 78 active positive cases, including 65 students and 13 employees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.