Ohio State warns of discipline for students who hold, attend gatherings
At least five houses within blocks of Ohio State University’s campus hosted parties Thursday night in defiance of the school’s social distancing rules.
Students and their friends were spotted clustering on lawns and front porches. They closely mingled as they drank from red plastic cups and played drinking games. Few, if any, wore masks.
“All Ohio State students must follow the university’s health and safety requirements, on and off campus,” Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in an email Friday. “Students who host or attend a party — or any gathering — with more than 10 people will be immediately referred to Student Conduct and will face an interim suspension. Student organizations involved in unsafe gatherings could lose their university recognition and funding.”
Students are barred from hosting a gathering of more than 10 people, and are required to wear face masks and practice social distancing, he added.
The Office of Student Life has teams monitoring off-campus housing for activity that violates social distancing rules, Johnson said.
Disciplinary proceedings are confidential, and Johnson was unable to comment on any action taken against students so far.
Ohio State made efforts in recent weeks to discourage off-campus parties, hoping to slow the spread of a coronavirus pandemic that’s killed nearly 4,000 Ohioans since March.
The university introduced a hybrid of online and in-person classes that includes an in-depth plan to test and monitor students. Testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is mandatory for students living in residence halls, and students living off campus will undergo surveillance testing.
Over the summer, return-tocampus kits containing masks and hand sanitizer, among other things, were distributed to students living off campus, and the university provided signage to off-campus businesses promoting health and safety standards.
University officials continue to meet with fraternities and sororities to discuss social distancing expectations, and safety guidelines were discussed in Youtube videos aimed at students and their parents.
School officials also plan to hang posters at bus stops throughout the University District, distribute yard signs to off-campus property owners and are considering buying space on billboards to further encourage safety during the pandemic.
OSU students began their return to campus on Aug. 12, and classes start Tuesday.
Several major universities that tried to hold in-person classes have already reversed course. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said Monday that the rest of its fall term will be held online.
Syracuse University on Thursday suspended 23 students who participated in a large gathering on the campus quad that took place Wednesday.
And the Big Ten Conference has canceled all fall sports, although conference officials said they will consider rescheduling some sports, including football, to the spring. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley
“As (school) plans are coming out around the state with different districts deciding on remote learning or a hybrid or whatever that might be, we’ve definitely seen much more interest,” Swinehart said.
“Typically, in the past years we haven’t hit our state cap until February or March, and this year we will hit it by the end of September at the absolute latest.”
Great River is a privately operated, publicly funded charter school and one of 15 online schools in Ohio. Most serve kindergarten through 12th grade.
At Ohio Virtual Academy, enrollment is up 37%, with most of the new students in kindergarten through fifth grade, said Kristen Stewart, head of school. She added that the academy has hired 84 new teachers and staff to