PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich said he has not been updated on the status of his religious exemption request needed to become compliant with the state’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Without a resolution, it raises the possibility Rolovich will not be allowed to continue in his job past Monday’s state deadline to either be vaccinated or have an approved exemption.
“I’m gonna come to work tomorrow … I don’t think this is in my hands,” Rolovich said. “So, I’ve been settled for a long time on it, and I just believe it’s going to work out the right way.”
His comments came moments after the Cougars (4-3) beat Stanford 34-31 on Saturday, running their winning streak to three games and prompting players to dump a bucket of Gatorade over his head near midfield.
When the state of Washington expanded its vaccine mandate to include all employees at higher learning institutions in August, Rolovich said he would comply, but he has since confirmed he applied for a religious exemption to avoid becoming vaccinated. He has been asked repeatedly for weeks to expand upon the reasoning for his position but has declined to provide clarity.
“[It’s been] about three months, four months,” Rolovich said. “So, I’ve gotten used to it. These kids are incredible. Love being around them. They’re playing their hearts out for this university. I think they’ve got a real good bond that they’ll remember for the rest of their life. And it’s just pretty special.”
Ahead of Monday’s deadline, there remain a number of ways Rolovich’s situation could unfold.
Before anything can happen, the Washington State University committee assigned to examining all of the religious exemption requests needs to evaluate the one from Rolovich. It’s a blind process, meaning the committee will not have access to any identifying information while making its determination, a process designed to treat every employee equally. At least two people trained in the legality of the religious exemption…
Source : espn
