Loughborough University have issued their first ‘Student Misconduct Notice’ for a breach of COVID-19 restrictions to a student who hosted a house party at the weekend.
University Chief Operating Officer Richard Taylor told East Midlands Today “We’ve issued our first notice this Monday to a student who decided to hold a house party at the weekend in breach of the clear rules – that’s one strike.”
“Hopefully, they’ll have learnt their lesson, and hopefully it will say to other students that this is a great University to study, do sport, do all the things that make student life excellent – but at the end of the day they have to follow the rules.”
The new rules were emailed to all students last Wednesday, with the Vice Chancellor stating that the University had a “legal responsibility” to protect others from the risk of coronavirus spread caused by illegal gatherings both on and off campus.
Richard Taylor made the new rules clear: “If you, for example, organise a house party that breaks those rules you will be a threat to the University’s COVID-secure campus and you will have to stay away from the campus for 14 days.”
“If you breach those rules again you will not be able to come back to Loughborough University for the remainder of this academic year”
However, he acknowledged that the rules were “really tough interventions”, but that it was “important that our students, who are fantastic young people, recognise that for us to keep the campus open, so they can enjoy their education, they have to comply with those rules that the government have set out.”
The Golden Rules
These measures are in addition to the range of other ‘golden rules‘ that the University is introducing to stop the spread of the coronavirus, including wearing face coverings, avoiding public transport, and following staff advice.
Lecture theatres will be limited to around 10% of capacity with Neil Budworth, Head of Health and Safety at the University, stating that the new 500-seat theatre in Edward Herbert will be limited to just 50 students.
Mr Budworth also told East Midlands Today that students in halls will have to wear mandatory wristbands to make it clear which household they are part of – to help campus security and warden teams distinguish who is able to socialise.
“We miss our students, we want them back. And we want them to enjoy this safely.”
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