Update: This article has been edited to reflect Adin McGurk’s position as a member of The Hustler staff and to correct the date upon which Noah Frank and Adin McGurk received an email from Student Accountability.
As students have returned to school, the Office of Student Accountability has been contacting students in violation of COVID-19 protocols as seen in students’ social media posts.
The school’s Return to Campus Plan states that students who participate in gatherings where they are not physically distanced and masked will be faced with a minimum one semester suspension and can even face expulsion “depending on the nature of and circumstances surrounding the violation.”
Although the Return to Campus plan states that students who participate in gatherings where they are not physically distanced and masked could potentially face suspension, initial emails sent to students violating these guidelines thus far have been warnings with no disciplinary actions. Many of the emails sent to students who are believed to be violating the rules include warnings about further action if the students continue to ignore Vanderbilt’s policies.
In one such case, sophomores Noah Frank and Adin McGurk received emails from the Office of Student Accountability for appearing in a friend’s Snapchat story outside, on campus and unmasked. The school has set up a hotline for reporting students who are not following the school’s policies. McGurk is a Staff Writer for The Hustler.
Frank, McGurk and a friend were walking along 21st Avenue behind Wilson Hall when they stopped to take a photo, according to Frank. This photo was then reported by an unknown viewer to the school, and the three students received an email from Student Accountability the following morning on August 21.
The email said that students should “review the applicable policies and take necessary measures to ensure you are in compliance with them.”
Many people, including Frank, believe that this response was severe, given the fact that Frank and McGurk are roommates, both residing off campus, and were wearing masks prior to the photo.
Frank also said he appreciated the school’s efforts to hold students accountable and safe. Frank said that he took issue with the idea that the school is encouraging its students to turn their peers in.
“It just breaks trust within the student community,” Frank said.
Frank stated he and his other friends involved in the incident have reviewed the campus social distancing guidelines and will be more careful in the future.
When reached for comment, the Office of Student Accountability referred The Hustler back to the Return to Campus plan and declined to comment on Frank’s specific situation.
