IU to ‘identify participants and hand down suspensions’ after large gathering

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana University says students will be suspended after a large party was held on Wednesday.

After video of the gathering was posted to Twitter, the university responded: “We are aware of this situation and are actively investigating. Today we will identify participants and hand down suspensions. This gathering violated city and county regulations as well as our own guidelines and endangered the health of the IU community.”

University President Michael McRobbie also sent a letter to students that said, in part, “If too many of you fail to comply, our decision will be simple: We will reverse course as other universities have done and go back to all-virtual instruction.”

There was mixed reaction on the decision from students on campus Thursday. Cameron Drum and Casey Rector are not too concerned.

“Personally, I think if they’re in college they can party if they want,” Drum said.

“To think that you can really exclude all that is unrealistic in the first place. It’s like if we’re here, it’s gonna happen,” added Rector.

Rebecca White and Nicole Suarez have a different opinion.

“We did sign an agreement talking about like abiding by CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) rules,” said Suarez.

“Things are especially rocky right now so it would be nice for people to be considerate of that,” said White.

University policies regarding COVID-19 can be read online.

Also on Wednesday, Purdue University told students they could be expelled for not following precautions. On Thursday, the university announced 36 students had been suspended following a party.