Colleges and universities are taking hard-nosed steps to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus and prevent campuses from becoming the latest COVID-19 hot spots.
More than 20 New York University students have been suspended for violating COVID-19-conscious safety protocols, while Boston’s Northeastern University has dismissed 11 students for defying the orders and plans to keep their tuition.
NYU took its message directly to social media Saturday night:
Meanwhile, the 11 dismissed Northeastern students had gathered in a hotel room in defiance of the school’s coronavirus policies, The Washington Post reported.
According to a university statement, all of the students involved were first-year students found hanging out last week in a room at the Westin Hotel, which Northeastern is using as a temporary dorm for about 800 students in downtown Boston.
Officials instructed the 11 students to take a coronavirus test and vacate campus within 24 hours. According to the university, the students had been part of a study-abroad program and will not be reimbursed for their $36,500 tuition payments, the Post reported.
In a statement issued Friday, Madeleine Estabrook, Northeastern’s senior vice chancellor for student affairs, called cooperation and compliance with public health guidelines “absolutely essential.”
“Those people who do not follow the guidelines — including wearing masks, avoiding parties and other gatherings, practicing healthy distancing, washing your hands, and getting tested — are putting everyone else at risk,” Estabrook stated.