The Executive Order Trump Train hasn’t lost any momentum even as we near the one-month mark in office. As an aside, anyone who was wondering what might happen in the first 100 days is curious as to whether he can keep this up for 100 days.
By “keep up,” I mean what could be next. We’ve seen many orders to undo the fiscal, cultural, and international damage done by whoever ran the Biden administration. Trump got hostages back from Venezuela that no one seemed to know were there. He convinced Panama to abandon deals with China, used tariffs to get Canada and Mexico to police the US border for drugs and illegal crossings, brought Marc Fogel home from Russia, started Peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, and just told NATO and the EU to F off. Ukraine isn’t joining NATO; you’re going to pay for your own conventional defense, and he introduced reciprocal tariffs, which will be exactly whatever any other nation charges us (if they want them lower, they have to lower theirs).
Brilliant.
And that’s a very short list of “so fars” to which we can add ending DEI, transgender agendas, and now covid vaccine mandates.
The order, detailed in a fact sheet provided by the White House, will prohibit all federal funding to any schools that implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates and directs the secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services to issue compliance guidelines and plans to end existing mandates. The secretaries will also create a report of non-compliant institutions and a process for blocking funds from supporting any that impose mandates.
The institutions affected include educational service agencies, state education agencies, local education agencies, elementary schools, secondary schools, or any institutions of higher education that require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines to attend in-person educational programs.
This order directly impacts the COVID-19 vaccine’s presence on the childhood immunization list, which typically aligns with public school attendance requirements. The shadow of the penumbra seems to me to be that this is about to change. DHHS under freshly confirmed Secretary Kennedy will be having a close look at that, and the rest of it.
There are also 15 colleges in the US (as of February 2025) that require the Jab, one of which I Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire.
California
- California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt: Students in residential housing must be immunized according to current COVID-19 vaccine recommendations of the CDC. Medical and religious exemptions may apply.
- California State University, Dominguez Hills: COVID-19 vaccine recommended for general students, required for athletes and on-campus housing students.
- Mount Saint Mary’s University: COVID-19 vaccine series required for all students. Medical and religious exemptions are accepted.
- University of San Francisco: Initial COVID-19 vaccines are required for undergraduate and graduate domestic students, international students, and nursing students.
Georgia
- Clark Atlanta University: All enrolled students must have one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine given on or after 8/31/2022.
- Morehouse College: All enrolled students must have one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine given on or after 8/31/2022.
- Morris Brown College: COVID vaccination card is required for admission. Religious and medical exemptions accepted.
- Oglethorpe University: COVID-19 vaccine required for all students. Medical and religious accommodations are accepted.
- Spelman College: Students are required to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination, including a booster.
New Hampshire
- Franklin Pierce University: Initial COVID-19 immunization series is mandatory for admissions.
Ohio
- Oberlin College: All students, faculty, and staff attending or working at Oberlin are required to receive a full COVID-19 vaccine, unless approved for a medical or religious exemption.
Oregon
- Reed College: Up to date COVID-19 immunization is required for all students prior to the start of the fall academic term.
Pennsylvania
- Bryn Mawr College: All faculty, staff, and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Medical and religious exemptions accepted.
- Haverford College: Incoming and transfer students are required to get the most updated FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine, administered after August 2023.
- Swarthmore College: New students are required to have the initial series and one booster of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The order also bans jab mandates with related agencies that receive, use, or distribute federal school funds.
I wonder what’s on tap for tomorrow.
