Three female UMass Amherst
honor students have been kicked out of school because they were seen in a photo
without masks when they were off-campus and outside. The freshmen students will
reportedly lose their course credits and tuition over the maskless photo that was posted on social media. The students
posed for the photo while at an off-campus party. The photo, posted to
Instagram, was then reportedly sent to UMass Amherst officials, who subsequently
suspended the three students.
A mother of one of the
students said, "There was a photo sent to the administration of these
girls outside off-campus on a Saturday.” The father of another suspended
student said his daughter "did everything right," adding, "She
was valedictorian and class president of her high school."
According to WCBV-TV, the
students were promptly forced to move out of on-campus housing and made to
return home to attend remote classes while they appealed their case. The
parents said the three students lost their appeals.
The students were then kicked
out of their distance-learning courses and were prohibited from taking their
finals, actions which have major academic and financial ramifications for the
families. The students were forced to forfeit the entire semester and $16,000
tuition that was already paid. The parents said the school would not refund the
tuition.
One of the parents (who don’t
wish to give their last names for fear that it could hurt their
daughters’chances of getting accepted to a new school), noted, "These
beautiful young ladies who are honors students have had a full academic year
stripped away and their paths broken of their higher education for alleged
COVID violations.”
Another parent, who termed
the situation “heartbreaking,” said, "One little thing happens and you're
out? Like not even like a don't do it again, here's some probation.”
UMass Amherst issued a general
statement behooving a closed totalitarian society: "Students received a
number of public health messages this semester that emphasized the importance
of following public health protocols and the consequences for not complying,
and those messages were also shared on UMass social media channels. Throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health and safety of the UMass Amherst
community has been the university's foremost priority. Expectations regarding
students' responsibility to follow public health protocols, and the
consequences for failing to do so, were clearly communicated to students before
and throughout the spring semester, and students were updated regularly as
conditions changed. When positive COVID-19 cases surged within the UMass
community in February 2021, the university, in consultation with the state
Department of Public Health, promptly imposed severe restrictions on campus
activities, including the suspension of in-person classes and a prohibition on
student social gatherings. It was made clear to students that those who failed
to comply would be subject to discipline, including suspension. A February 7
campus-wide message directed all students, whether residing in campus residence
halls or in off-campus housing in the surrounding area, to stay home, except to
get meals, undergo twice-weekly COVID testing, or to attend medical
appointments.”
The families have hired a
lawyer and plan to file a lawsuit against the university.
This is sick…and terrifying. Taxpayer-funded
and tuition funded “bastions of higher learning” have to be put in their place…and
soon. No school has the right to tell any student what he, she or “they” can or
can’t do while off campus. For that matter, no government entity can
arbitrarily strip any citizens Constitutional rights from them. And no group, educational
body, bureaucracy…or government… can repeal the natural rights granted to each
of us equally by our Creator.
Colleges and universities
cheer on their students when they are looting and burning during BLM/Antifa
riots but kick them out of school if they refuse to cover their mouths when off
campus. No one should put up with this. It is brainless, soulless, heartless,
ball-less.
Or, as The Kinks once noted,
“Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, it’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook
up world…”
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