Elyssa Cherney -
College students, beware: You could temporarily lose your spot on campus — or worse, get expelled — for partying with your peers this fall. It happened at Purdue University in Indiana, where 36 students received “summary suspensions” earlier this month for attending an off-campus gathering that lacked face masks and social-distancing, just hours after a warning from administrators. The Ohio State University issued about 225 interim suspensions for off-campus parties and gatherings between August 19 and 23, spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said.
More than half of the suspensions were lifted after students showed they did not attend, host or participate in unsafe activities, Johnson said. And on the east coast, Pennsylvania State University suspended a fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, and its student leaders for staging an event with 70 people on August 22, while Syracuse University in New York took action after a large group of freshmen met up in a campus quad.
As colleges across the country allow students to return for fall classes, many are ramping up enforcement of new rules to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The stakes are high: Universities that can’t contain the virus on campus have paused in-person classes or reverted to remote learning entirely, sending students home for the rest of the semester. In recent weeks, some colleges have said they will check social media to monitor student behavior, review security footage when students mingle in large groups and, most severely, kick students out ofclasses for violating school policy.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the state’s largest college, disciplinary cases are pending as well, according to spokesperson Robin Kaler. As of Monday, two students were issued interim suspensions, one faced disciplinary action and a fraternity — Pi Kappa Phi — was placed on interim suspension, Kaler said. The suspended students were accused of hosting a large apartment party on Friday and violating a quarantine order on Saturday, Kaler said.
The fraternity was also accused of hosting a large party this weekend. The student facing discipline allegedly posted a social media video showing how to override the school’s COVID-19 tracking application, Kaler said.
In Indiana, the University of Notre Dame, which confronted a surge in infections attributed to off-campus parties, is also cracking down on irresponsible behaviour, but assured students the information would not be used against them if it was volunteered during contact-tracing.
“We will continue to adhere to this policy because we want students to be forthright with us so that we can discover the source of the infections in order to keep the community safe,” said the ReverendJohn Jenkins, the school’s president, during a recent video address. But if Notre Dame learns about “serious” violations from other sources, they will be referred to the university conduct review process, Jenkins said.
Also in the Hoosier state, Indiana University’s board of trustees passed a policy August 5 underscoring that students who fail or refuse to comply with health and safety directives related to COVID-19 can be suspended or expelled. That policy will be applied to a recent gathering of about 100 people off campus in Bloomington. A video of the event circulated on Twitter, but has since been removed from public viewing.
IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said the school began contacting involved students last week and planned to issue suspensions, though he did not know how many students were affected. The off-campus party violated local prohibitions on gatherings of more than 50 people, he said. The city has since reduced the limit to 15. With many Illinois colleges beginning classes in the last two weeks, few local examples have yet to emerge. But many of the policies are consistent with what’s transpired at other campuses.
In one of the more forceful approaches, Northwestern University is effectively enlisting nearby residents to help monitor off-campus behaviour. During a community town hall last week, interim dean of students Mona Dugo asked neighbors in Evanston, Illinois, to use an online form to report social gatherings that don’t follow health precautions. — dpa
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