Stetson offers incentives to reach campus vaccination goal

DELAND, Fla. - With a goal of getting 70 to 80% of its campus vaccinated, Stetson University is offering incentives to students including free tuition.

The school announced Friday it would raffle off a year of free tuition to two students. 

Students' names will also be thrown in a weekly drawing for a chance to win $1,000 and other prizes such as tickets to Disney. 

Dr. Ray Nault with the university said the school is running the campaign all summer in hopes the fall semester can start to look normal again.

"What better way to kind of incentivize students to get the vaccinations so we can open up campus and have those meaningful conversations and get back to in-class experiences," he said.

He said on the first day, the campaign was announced that they had 50 students enter for a chance to win. 

"We’re getting closer and closer to our overall goal," he said.

Student Waleed Ikram said he hopes an increase in vaccinations will bring normalcy to campus.

"Allows Stetson University to be able to open up to activities, in-person classes," he said.