On Friday, Holy Cross College President Fr. David Tyson emailed the student body, announcing students who violate COVID-19 safety policies will be suspended from the College.
"Any student(s) that is found to have violated published or stated protocols of the College; or order of the city of South Bend, St. Joseph County or the State of Indiana; or has engaged in behaviors that blatantly threaten the health of the College community, either on the campus, or off the campus; or tri-campus community, or the South Bend/Mishawaka community will be suspended from enrollment at the College," Tyson said in the email.
Suspended students who require care for COVID-19 will be allowed to stay on campus until they have recovered.
"If an offending student requires quarantine, testing or isolation, the suspension will take effect at the end of the period and the suspended student will be removed from campus," Tyson said. "A suspended student will not be eligible until the beginning of the academic year 2021-2022."
Tyson also explained why the new policy is only in place for students.
"Established HR policies will govern alleged violations that involve faculty, staff and administration," the email said. "We are a community that has various stakeholders that are not equal in their relationship to one another or bound by the same regulations. However, no one is exempt from scrutiny for intentional violations or personal interpretations of health and safety policies, especially in a pandemic."
Tyson stated that he will not allow individual actions to dictate the health of the whole community.
"To tolerate a few irresponsible members bringing Holy Cross College to a standstill by their negligence and disregard for the community, itself, would in fact be the greatest of all negligences,” the email said.
