Northeastern University kicks out 11 students over party, keeps their $36,500 semester tuition

Does 11 people hanging out count as a “party?”

Northeastern University dismissed 11 students Friday after they held a small party in a hotel room Wednesday, the school announced in a news release. The 11 students “are no longer part of the Northeastern community for the fall semester.”

All 11 students were first-years and part of a special one-semester program that cost $36,500, The Boston Globe reported. Northeastern is not refunding their money.

The students were enrolled in a study abroad program, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, “abroad” became the Westin Hotel in downtown Boston, about a mile from campus, according to the release.

The students held a small get-together in one room without social distancing or masks, in violation of Northeastern’s new coronavirus protocols, and were busted by campus monitors.

Now, the students have been told to pack their bags, get tested for covid-19, hopefully test negative and go home, according to the Globe. They will be allowed to return to campus for spring semester.

The students can appeal the ruling.

“Cooperation and compliance with public health guidelines is absolutely essential,” Northeastern official Madeleine Estabrook said in the release, though she failed to note that the safest option would have been not bringing students back to campus at all. “Together, we can keep each other safe, but it will require everyone’s consistent cooperation.”