Seventeen faculty members and students faced severe repercussions, including dismissals and expulsions, for their refusal to comply with the university's vaccine policies due to their deeply held religious beliefs. University administrators made arbitrary decisions on what constitutes a legitimate religious belief and Roman Catholic and Buddhist applicants had their objections to vaccination dismissed as mere personal beliefs rather than genuine religious convictions.

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In a landmark decision earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit delivered a scathing rebuke to the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, declaring its COVID-19 vaccine mandate unconstitutional.

The 55-page ruling highlighted that the mandate, which excluded religious exemptions, was tainted by "religious animus" and thus violated the First Amendment's protection of religious liberties.