As employers across the country face mounting pressure to require Covid-19 vaccinations of their employees — President Joe Biden joined the chorus this week — business and organizational leaders are being thrust into uncomfortable territory.

They can compel wary citizens to make a highly personal choice they’ve avoided for months — maybe risking their own stability if employees revolt. Or they can ignore the calls for “social responsibility” and risk a divided labor force, where some workers resent an employer who lets the unvaccinated work beside them.

Welcome to leadership in a global pandemic, where every choice is wrong to someone.

Locally, no organization is further along in this dilemma than Roger Williams University. The first university in New England to announce it would require vaccinations for any student or faculty coming to campus this fall, Roger Williams reopens in full this week, welcoming a community of more than 6,000 people into what could almost be considered a “normal” existence.

After setting a vaccination policy and beginning to communicate about it back in April, the university will be operating with 97 percent of its population fully vaccinated. Because of that, it will open with full capacity in its classrooms and lecture halls, normal dining options, and the full array of clubs, organizations and extracurricular activities.

“This was one of the simplest and most unified cabinet decisions we could make,” said Chief of Staff Brian Williams, of the decision to implement a vaccination policy. “We knew for the mental health of this community we wanted to be fully operational in the fall, and the vaccine is our best tool for that.”

The university began communicating its vaccination goals in the spring, talking to students before they left for the summer, and before prospective students made their final decisions to enroll. They held workshops, shared written materials about Covid and the vaccines, and met with employee groups. The policies apply to all employees, from tenured professors to maintenance crews and dining hall staff.

Mr. Williams admits there have been small bumps along the way. Some people were wary; some applied for and received exemptions, principally for medical reasons. But he said the overwhelming response from students and employees has been positive.

“We held numerous Zoom sessions with the community, with various groups, to talk about the decisions,” Mr. Williams said. “We have a vaccine protocol. We never used the word ‘mandate’ … We talked about the critical need to reach herd immunity. It was never a mandate that said, ‘you need the vaccine or you need to leave the university.’ That was never part of our dialogue.”

Delta makes a difference

Of course, the new Delta variant of Covid-19 has shifted the plans put together last spring. A few weeks ago, the university made the decision to mandate masks once again on campus — a decision it did not make lightly and one that Mr. Williams said they will revisit as they compile data about infection and transmission rates on campus.

“We’re using the first three weeks to get a lot of testing data, and then we will assess what to do going forward,” Mr. Williams said.

Despite the 97 percent vaccination rate, students and employees will still be testing regularly. The vaccinated will test once a week, the unvaccinated twice a week.

“A lot of people ask, ‘If everyone is vaccinated, why do you need to keep testing?’

Being vaccinated keeps you healthy, and masking and testing is there to keep others healthy,” Mr. Williams said. “You’re vaccinating for yourself, and you’re masking for others.”

The chief of staff is also proud that because of their robust vaccination rate, students can enjoy a richer college experience. Students who are vaccinated are more free to do research in a lab with classmates, work on community projects or accept internships in settings on or off campus. “The vaccinations are really related to student success, and education,” he said.

Asked whether other large employers should follow their lead, Mr. Williams spoke about the unique challenges of life on a college campus. “The university is an enormous congregate setting. We have more than 6,000 people in a space of 143 acres. They live in residence halls, eat in dining halls … share a fitness center, a pool, athletic events; the congregate setting we have is comparable to a nursing home,” he said. In other words, not every organizations faces the same challenges as a large university.

Nonetheless, Mr. Williams believes colleges and universities are trying to set an example for others. “A lot of us in higher education are trying to be a model … To show that if you have a community commitment to vaccination, it can work.”

Students return to campus this weekend — immediately boosting the vaccination rate in Bristol, which is only 61% — and entering the first year that is close to “normal” since 2019.

“Our community has been incredible,” Mr. Williams said. “We’re so close to 100% vaccinated … We feel really good about where we are in the fall.”