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UPDATE: Union College Defends Banning Student for Refusing Booster Shot After Thinker Breaks Story

Daniel SchmidtbyDaniel Schmidt
May 4, 2022
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
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UPDATE: Union College Defends Banning Student for Refusing Booster Shot After Thinker Breaks Story
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Union College has defended its decision to ban a student from campus for refusing to get a COVID booster shot, a story the Chicago Thinker broke.

On April 28, the Thinker published an article about Diamond “Ellie” Puentes, a Union College sophomore who was expelled for refusing to get a COVID booster shot, even though her doctor wrote a letter to the college warning that her getting a booster shot is “ill-advised” because she is experiencing severe health problems “presumably caused by the vaccine itself.”

After the article was published, Union College told CBS 6 News that “[a]n individual who chooses not to comply with our policy is not allowed on campus until they meet the requirement.” The college also claimed that “no students have been expelled for refusing to get a booster shot.”

In response, Puentes wrote on Twitter, “@UnionCollege now claims I haven’t been expelled? I’ve been unenrolled from classes, kicked out of housing, and not permitted back on campus. Nice try!”

@UnionCollege now claims I haven’t been expelled? I’ve been unenrolled from classes, kicked out of housing, and not permitted back on campus. Nice try! pic.twitter.com/USrjTAZvJg

— Ellie Puentes (@ElliePuentes) April 29, 2022

Union College also told The Epoch Times that it “would welcome back this student tomorrow if she complied with our well-established policy regarding vaccinations.” The school further denied that Puentes had been expelled.

Union College did not respond to a request for comment from the Thinker.

Puentes, who is now living in Chicago, told the Thinker she was hesitant to get a booster shot because she experienced negative side effects after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine in September 2021. A day after receiving the second dose, she became sick, experiencing congestion, coughing, and a sore throat. Less than ten days later, she started vomiting and having diarrhea. She also had a sharp pain in her upper abdomen.

These health problems culminated in her going to an emergency room, where she stayed for six hours and was diagnosed with gastritis. Seven months later, she continues to have symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

Union College’s Director of Health Services, Angela Stefanatos, told Puentes that her request for a medical exemption had been denied because the “vaccine is not associated with gastritis” and there “is no evidence in the literature that vaccination for [COVID] weakens the immune system.”

According to a Pfizer analysis of adverse effects of the COVID vaccine, gastritis is listed as an adverse event of special interest. A report from the UK also includes gastritis as an observed reaction to Pfizer’s vaccine.

Puentes told the Thinker that Union College has not contacted her since her expulsion.

Tags: boosterbooster mandateCOVIDCOVID policyCOVID-19mandateUnion CollegeVaccinationvaccinationsVaccinevaccine mandate
Daniel Schmidt

Daniel Schmidt

Daniel Schmidt is a University of Chicago freshman interested in studying Economics and History. Originally from Tennessee, he hopes to combat the contempt for Middle America that is common at elite universities.

Comments 9

  1. Kevin says:
    11 months ago

    Are they PURE EVIL…,
    or just the most uninformed,
    stupid,
    sheeple on the planet.

    If only abortion has inspired their leftist parents…

  2. Kevin says:
    11 months ago

    Chicago … THINKER???

    What an exotic, and u proven claim.

    Let’s just SEE how much grey matter you have, OR… how much of a dishonest propaganda lying (misinformation, for you woke brain dead crowd) evil spoiled children you are. Maybe your parents should come down to the basement and slap you!!

  3. Another UChicago student says:
    11 months ago

    > [Union College] would welcome back this student tomorrow if she complied with our well-established policy regarding vaccinations

    So she wasn’t expelled then. Why do you keep saying she was expelled? Expulsion implies she will never be allowed to enroll again, which just isn’t the case.

    Also, as was noted in your last article, her symptoms began before she got the shot, and your “supporting evidence” that the vaccine can cause gastritis is a single document of *self-reported* side effects, which is obviously going to have a lot of cases of misattribution, especially considering that the vaccine has been administered to tens of millions of people.

    • Another UChicago student says:
      11 months ago

      Tens of millions of people in the UK*

  4. John Kelly says:
    11 months ago

    So to whom is this student a threat? Never did figure the crazed response by the masked fully vaxed population towards those who are not. Either this stuff protects you or it doesn’t and if it does, where is the concern. Bodies respond differently to varied medicines. Some have negative reactions, one pill does not fit all. So this student is to ignore the cause and effect on her body and get another injection? Try another product you say, what if the same or worse occurs? Let’s personalize this, If this was your child would you advise the procedure? Should she not be afforded some grace as she must have some protection from the first dose, that is if this stuff has any efficacy. There are plenty of reports detailing adverse reactions to these vaccines. Some have died. Yes the statistics are low, but when the statistic is your child……that’s a life of suffering that no parent needs to experience. There are many variables to consider. Bullying is not a good policy.

  5. Kjazz says:
    11 months ago

    The college’s response is appalling. Maybe she wasn’t “expelled” but she was made to leave and can’t come back unless boosted. I support the school’s vaccine requirements but do not support their decision in this case. It’s too insensitive, too inflexible, and caused way more harm than allowing her to continue un-boosted would have considering omicron’s immune evasion abilities (in other words, boosted people can still catch and transmit).

  6. Zofia Hairfield says:
    11 months ago

    When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!

  7. Bryon Beguelin says:
    10 months ago

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  8. Buy Proxies Cheap says:
    10 months ago

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