330 University of Missouri students face discipline for breaking coronavirus rules
After less than two weeks of class, the University of Missouri is punishing 330 students it says violated COVID-19 safety rules — with penalties as stiff as suspension for the semester.
Violations range from refusing to wear a mask to sneaking guests into residence halls to throwing big parties on campus.
“We have had multiple reports of students hosting large gatherings,” said spokesman Christian Basi. The disciplinary actions, he said, are part of the normal student conduct process. “The penalty will fit the violation,” Basi said. Some violators could be made to write a paper, he said. Suspending a student is rare.
Meanwhile, 10 Greek houses have been temporarily suspended while the university investigates reports of violations, Basi said. This is after Mizzou fraternities last week said they were stopping all in-person activities to avoid setting off an outbreak.
Penalties are determined by a five-member review panel, which includes faculty, staff and two students and is part of MU’s Office of Student Accountability and Support. Students are given a chance to appeal the panel’s recommendations.
Faculty who violate safety rules also could be penalized by a similar panel, which would refer disciplinary recommendations to the office of human resources.
Students at the University of Kansas who violate coronavirus safety rules also could face disciplinary action as severe as suspension. KU officials did not say how many of their students are in trouble for not following the rules.
Mizzou officials said they want students to know they are serious about maintaining safety rules to fight the spread of the coronavirus and keep the campus open.
“Everyone wants to be here,” Basi said. “We are going to make sure we have every opportunity first to educate.” But he said, “we also have communicated very clearly with students about our expectations.”
Since Aug. 19, the university has had 683 cases of COVID-19 on campus. Classes began Aug. 24. As of Wednesday, there were 483 active cases.
In addition to mandating that everyone wear a mask on campus, inside and outside if social distancing is not possible, the university has increased cleaning, reconfigured classrooms to allow for social distancing and put about half the classes online. Guests are forbidden in dorms, and there are limits on the size of gatherings.
Across the country, colleges have taken similar steps and more, including testing every student on campus, some multiple times a week. Still, outbreaks have forced some colleges that had originally opened with in-person classes to revert to online only.
And local health departments are doing their part as well, closing bars and quarantining Greek houses.
In both Missouri and Kansas, college towns are seeing higher rates of new cases than statewide averages.
Boone County, home to MU in Columbia, saw its number of new cases more than double: by 112.5%.
Both Douglas and Riley counties in Kansas, home to the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, saw their number of coronavirus cases increase by nearly 88% and 72% respectively over the past month.
In both states, the typical college-age demographic led all other age groups in the number of cases.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 1:49 PM.
