23 students suspended for violating COVID-19 policies

Nicole McIsaac, Copy Editor

Eleven undergraduate students are facing four-week suspensions and 12 off-campus students are subject to interim suspensions until their conduct meetings are completed, according to Quinnipiac University’s Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett.

The students are being suspended for conduct violations pertaining to “violating our no-visitor policy for residence halls, having non-QU guests on campus, and/or exceeding our indoor gatherings policy both on and off campus,” according to Ellett’s email on Sept. 24. 

The 11 undergraduate students’ suspensions come per the first-offense conduct violation policies, according to the email. Ellett said these 11 students already had their conduct meetings. 

Students who have been removed from residence halls will not receive any type of refund for their housing.

Among the 11 undergraduate students, three separate students had a non-Quinnipiac guest with them.

The 12 off-campus are suspended until their conduct meetings occur, Ellett said. It has not been confirmed if local police had been involved during the off-campus incidents. 

Ellett said that both faculty and students gave the university the information about the violations. However, Quinnipiac will not release the students’ identification. 

“Public safety is doing their role in patrolling the campus and will continue to do so regarding these events,” Ellett said. “Resident assistants will be following the training that they have been given from the beginning of the semester.”

According to Ellett, the 12 off-campus students have enough evidence to justify them forming a case to refute their conduct allegations. For this reason, the length of their suspensions is currently undetermined.

We’re enforcing these policies because every violation potentially can have a negative impact on your health and on the health of multiple others in the QU community,” Ellett said in the email.

Students are not being tested as a result of their suspensions but they could have been included in the random sample testing of the student body this past week. Individuals involved will be subject to Quinnipiac’s standard quarantine and isolation protocols regarding COVID-19-related symptoms.

“I really believe that this communication and what we’re doing with these policies will further curb future issues,” Ellett said. 

Ellett encourages students to reach out via email, [email protected], for any further questions or concerns.