Rutgers: Students Who Keep Throwing House Parties Face Suspension

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — After New Brunswick city police had to break up a 100-person house party Friday night on Guilden Street, Rutgers officials now said students seen not wearing masks or social distancing this fall could face disciplinary action.

Discipline ranges from a first-time verbal warning to being suspended from the university.

Also, Rutgers students who host parties in off-campus housing will face even stricter consequences, warned university officials. "Repeat offenders," or students who keep hosting social gatherings and house parties, will face the strictest consequences.

This week, Rutgers also launched coronavirus testing for students who live in off-campus housing. Those test results will be included in the Rutgers coronavirus dashboard, updated weekly.

Rutgers decided in early July that most dorms would remain closed and all classes would continue online for the fall 2020 semester, even as many other colleges across the U.S. have fully reopened. However, Rutgers was powerless to stop the estimated 8,000 to 10,000 students from returning this September to apartment rentals scattered throughout New Brunswick, Piscataway and Highland Park. Most of those are juniors and seniors who are not required to live in university housing, and signed leases to live in off-campus apartments, usually with friends.

It is those students who appear to be throwing parties: An NJ.com reporter walked up and down College Avenue this past Friday night and said he witnessed dozens of twentysomethings packed into backyards, on porches and squeezed into crowded, non-ventilated stairwells.

There was not a mask in sight, according to the NJ.com report.

"Students found to be non-compliant on or off campus could face disciplinary action for not wearing face masks or social distancing," said Rutgers in a statement. "If found in violation, students face a range of consequences from a warning to disciplinary suspension. Our plan is to attempt to educate those students first and then seek disciplinary action against repeat offenders. Students who aid and abet non-compliance by hosting large gatherings will face disciplinary action and harsher disciplinary consequences."

Rutgers will not be specifically looking for bad actors, the university clarified. Rather, the school just wants students to take personal responsibility.

“The Office of Student Conduct never goes looking for behaviors that violate our Code of Student Conduct, and we want you to understand your rights and responsibilities," said Dean of Students Anne Newman in an email to all students.

Rutgers is not alone: Last week, Montclair State University suspended the housing privileges for 11 students who were caught partying on campus without social distancing or wearing face masks, the school said. Those students can remain enrolled at Montclair State, but they cannot live in the dorms this fall.

Related: Police Break Up 100-Person Rutgers House Party Friday Night

Click here to get Patch emails so you don't miss important news about Rutgers University! Download the Patch app here.

Follow New Brunswick Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email the Rutgers-New Brunswick Patch reporter carly.baldwin@patch.com