William & Mary will require coronavirus vaccine before start of fall semester

William & Mary will require all students, faculty members and staffers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, effective immediately, the school’s president announced Thursday — a sudden acceleration of a mandate that reflects the changing conditions of the pandemic nationally and a lower-than-expected reported rate of voluntary vaccination.

It’s a struggle that is playing out at colleges across the country, as university leaders try to gauge risk and balance students’ longing for normal campus life with the need to keep the community safe. Vaccine mandates have been challenged with lawsuits and protests at some schools, and some universities have avoided imposing them.