University of St. Thomas giving away a TV, tuition breaks, gift cards to encourage COVID vaccination

Unlike some schools, the University of St. Thomas isn't requiring students to get COVID vaccinations to enroll this fall. But the largest private university in Minnesota is offering incentives: a chance to win airline tickets, a TV, a semester's worth of free room and board and other prizes.

Weekly drawings are underway for the more modest prizes, such as a gift card to the campus store or priority in room selection. Those will happen every Monday through July. On Aug. 2, the university will make the drawing for the grand prizes, which include a J-term study abroad course, a tuition discount, free room and board for a semester and $2,000 towards professional development.

To collect their prizes, winners will have to show proof of vaccination.

"The goal is to try to get as many of our community members as possible to get vaccinated," said Andy Ybarra, associate vice president of public relations St. Thomas. "We believe that this is the best path towards getting us back to normal operations, to pre-pandemic operations."

Ybarra said the university believes the giveaway will lead to more people getting vaccinated than a policy requiring the vaccine with exemptions. He said the program is aimed at reaching people who are hesitant but not opposed to getting the shot.

"We believe that a mandate could effectively push those people into a corner and force them to choose between something that they're hesitant about or asking for an exemption," Ybarra said.

St. Thomas's neighboring campus in St. Paul, Macalester College, will require students and staff to be vaccinated to return to campus, but also organized a drawing in which students can win gift cards worth as much as $100.

Zekriah Chaudhry • 612-673-7186