109 university students suspended for COVID violations
More than 100 Sacred Heart University students have been suspended and two have been removed for the rest of the semester for violating the school’s COVID-19 standards.
The strict penalties are one approach Connecticut colleges are taking to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put colleges in a difficult situation, according to Dr. Rock Ferrigno, associate chief medical officer and chairman of emergency medicine at Bridgeport Hospital. Ferrigno said the
“new normal” of constant social distancing and avoidance of large gatherings goes against the very nature of the college experience.
“I think the hardest part is that college is both a learning and a social experience,” he said. “It’s very difficult to
change behavior. You want (students) to focus on handwashing, mask-wearing and social distancing. But we’re at a disadvantage, because we’re dealing with a social norm of college that doesn’t fit (with what students are used to).”
Larry Wielk, Sacred Heart’s dean of students, said 109 students have been suspended for violating the school’s COVID rules. About 100 of the students received 30-day suspensions for breaking the school’s rule that prohibits gatherings of more than 12 people, Wielk said. Eight students received seven-day suspensions for face mask violations, he said.
Two of the students have been dismissed for the semester for violating the rules more than once, Wielk said.
However, Gary MacNamara, SHU’s executive
director of public safety and government affairs and co-chairman of its Coronavirus Management Team, said most students seem to be taking the restrictions seriously.
“For the most part, we’re seeing that to be very effective,” MacNamara said of the rule against large gatherings.
The school has combined penalties and rewards — SHU President John Petillo handed out gift cards last week to students he found following the university’s social distancing rules — to help prevent the spread of COVID.
Others measures the school is taking include regular testing of symptomatic and asymptomatic students, a variety of precautions and even newly installed “scent tents” to help students determine if they’ve lost their sense of smell — a common COVID symptom.
The 10 tents, which contain flower arrangements,
have been placed around campus.
“Some of the students who have tested positive since the semester started said they’ve lost their sense of smell,” MacNamara said. “We know that’s a common symptom, but you may go most of the day not paying attention to your sense of smell. Also, it brightens up the campus.”
However, he said, in the week or so since the tents have been up, “I can’t attribute somebody going there and saying ‘I can’t smell.’ ”
As of Friday, MacNamara said there were 109 active COVID cases among SHU students and 128 had recovered from the disease. The school is starting to use a rapid saliva-based test kit developed by the Yale School of Public Health to help ramp up testing.
At Fairfield University, gatherings of more than 10 people have been prohibited unless the group has received approval from school officials.
University spokeswoman Susan Cipollaro said the penalty for violating the rule, or any other COVIDrelated directives, is student conduct probation, which “may escalate to removal from campus for the semester, dismissal or expulsion.”
Cipollaro said students have violated the directive about social gatherings and “these violations have been addressed through our student conduct process.” Cipollaro declined to say how many students have been disciplined.
Elsewhere in the state, education and health authorities are fighting the spread of COVID in varying ways.
At the University of Connecticut, the Storrs campus is testing its wastewater in the hopes it will alert officials to an outbreak of the virus before symptoms start to appear. UConn has 45 active cases and has addressed several outbreaks in campus dorms by quaran
tining students in those residence halls.
At the University of New Haven, where 37 on-campus students and 38 commuters are being quarantined, random testing is expected to increase this month.
Doug Whiting, associate vice president for marketing and public relations at UNH, said the school tested 750 students and staff last week and expects to be testing 900 students per week later this month.
Otherwise, he said, the school has taken such measures as limiting guests, and educating the community about COVID policies.
However, Ferrigno said more still needs to be done on Connecticut college campuses to control the virus.
“We’re seeing a lot of good work separating infected people from non-infected people,” Ferrigno said. “But more work needs to be done to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. You almost need additional hallway monitors to remind everyone ‘Hey, your mask on your chin is not going to help you.’ ”
Connecticut K-12 school districts are facing similar challenges. Fairfield Public Schools Superintendent Mike Cummings has partly attributed an outbreak in the district to students gathering while not in school.
Fairfield Ludlowe High School has twice closed for several days since Sept. 24 as positive cases among students have increased to 20.
Fairfield Health Director Sands Cleary said the town has been working with the schools to raise awareness about preventing the spread of COVID.
At least some of the Ludlowe cases have been linked to pick-up football or basketball games, and Cleary said it’s essential everyone knows that even small gatherings can lead to the spread of the illness.
“Any time you get together outside of your household, the risk changes,” he said.