The students were caught violating COVID-19 distancing requirements; their $36,500 tuition for the semester will not be refunded.
Northeastern University has dismissed 11 first-year students after they were caught violating social distancing rules, the school announced Friday.
The students were caught at the Westin Hotel, which is being used as a temporary dormitory this semester, on Wednesday night without masks and not social distancing, according to university spokeswoman Renata Nyul.
The dismissed students will not be allowed to take courses from home this semester but will be permitted to return in the spring, Nyul said. They were part of a special one-semester program for freshmen that was pre-paid and cost $36,500. That money will not be refunded.
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The students were asked to move out immediately, be tested for COVID-19, enter quarantine if they test positive, and then leave. Their university housing payments will not be refunded, per university rules.
Northeastern has dismissed 11 first-year students after they gathered together inviolation of university andpublic health protocols that prohibit crowded gatherings. https://t.co/4bSTi9AejF
— Northeastern U. (@Northeastern) September 4, 2020
Northeastern is one of several large universities in Boston that have brought students back to campus this semester, amid strict guidelines that aim to prevent an outbreak of the virus like the ones that have shut down schools elsewhere in the country like the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Last month the school sent stern letters to 115 freshmen and their parents after the students indicated on social media that they intended to attend parties this fall.
The students dismissed this week will have the right to contest their dismissal at an expedited hearing, the school said.
The 11 students were part of N.U.in, a special program at Northeastern that allows first-years to study abroad during their first semester of college. The program was modified to take place in Boston this year because of the pandemic.
There were 818 students enrolled in this program this year, all staying in two-person rooms at the Westin, less than a mile from the Northeastern campus. Northeastern staff discovered the students as they were making rounds in the hotel.
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The university said students in this program were notified on multiple occasions over the past week that they must practice social distancing, wear masks, and avoid crowds. They were required to acknowledge that they reviewed the program handbook, which included these rules, the school said.
The students were also notified in an August 28 letter from Madeleine Estabrook, senior vice chancellor for student affairs, that informed them that they would be suspended if they host or attend an unsafe gathering.
“Cooperation and compliance with public health guidelines is absolutely essential. Those people who do not follow the guidelines...are putting everyone else at risk,” Estabrook said in a news release from the school.
Students outside the hotel-turned dormitory on Friday afternoon said they were glad the students were dismissed. They said they have been asked to sign countless forms acknowledging that they understood the rules and there was no gray area.
“I was upset because it’s just really stupid to go around and still have these social gatherings. Those kinds of things are just going to ruin everything for everyone else,” said Darren Ng, a first-year from New York City studying mechanical engineering.
The university held a virtual town hall Friday afternoon to discuss the incident, students said. They said the swift action sent a strong message.
“We just thought it was a threat at first, but now we know they’re serious,” said Kayla McCann, a first-year nursing student.
Laura Krantz can be reached at laura.krantz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantz.
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