Students will be suspended for hosting, attending large gatherings

Students who host or attend on- or off-campus gatherings of more than 25 people will face suspension for the remainder of Fall semester, Boston University Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore announced in an email to students Monday.

The email outlined the consequences of violating COVID-19 gathering guidelines as well as the procedures for reporting violations.

Those suspended will no longer be able to attend Fall classes — whether in-person or remotely — and will not receive a refund of tuition or room and board.

Student organizations or teams who host these gatherings will be suspended and have their University recognition withdrawn for at least the Fall semester, according to the email.

Students can report large gatherings, the email stated, using an online form or by calling a 24-hour phone number. Students can choose whether or not to include their name and contact information on the form.

BU will follow the procedures laid out in the Code of Student Responsibilities when taking disciplinary action.

Elmore said in an interview that seeing parties at other universities has been “heartbreaking.”

“You see a lot of young people,” Elmore said, “who haven’t really thought about what the repercussions of this sort of thing might be for their own health but also for the ability of the institution to deal with the spread.”

But since many students at these schools are following the rules, Elmore said the entire student body shouldn’t be demonized. 

Elmore said he hopes BU’s new policy will effectively prevent parties such as these from occurring at BU.

“We have to have the hammer there and we’ve got to make sure that we are enforcing it as best as we can,” Elmore said. “It just makes everyone a little bit more powerful. It makes everyone think about themselves, but also everyone else.”

Since the email was sent, students have already reported upcoming parties, Elmore said. The DOS Office has contacted the students who were reported as being involved, and they will not face consequences as long as they cancel these parties.

Conversations about preventing gatherings have been happening for a long time, Elmore said, but this policy was solidified in the last two weeks.

As for mask and social distancing violations, Elmore said students should try communicating with each other about the importance of these guidelines instead of calling or filling out the form.

“By the time they get reported here, it happened and there’s not much more we can do,” Elmore said. “But we will try our best to respond to the circumstance.”

Elmore said students can still socialize but should be mindful of how they do it.

“You should still have fun. You should still get together with the people you know and you love. You should meet new people,” Elmore said. “But, I’m just asking us all to think about how this is a little different in this world right now.”