As Some US College Students Party, Others Blow the Whistle
Some U.S. college students are doing the once-improbable: blowing the whistle on classmates who break rules aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus. At the University of Missouri, one senior is posting photos…
Some U.S. college students are doing the once-improbable: blowing the whistle on classmates who break rules aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus.
At the University of Missouri, one senior is posting photos and videos on a “University of Misery” Twitter account that shows students gathered in large groups at pools, outside bars and other places – few of them wearing masks.
The university has a form on its website where violations of the school’s COVID-19 guidelines can be anonymously reported, but posting on Twitter “adds a different level of accountability,” said the student.
“When it’s up there publicly and people are retweeting it, and the university’s getting tagged over and over – then they have to reply,” said the student, who sometimes posts videos and photos of non-compliance sent by other students and asked for anonymity to avoid backlash.
Christian Basi, spokesman for the University of Missouri, which has about 30,000 students, said there has been good compliance on campus during daytime hours but problems arise once students leave campus.
“Where we’re seeing our issues have been off campus, when individuals go home to their private residences,” Basi said.
The University of Missouri on Tuesday said in a statement that it had expelled two students and suspended three following “flagrant violations” of the school’s coronavirus-related rules.
The county where the school is located saw a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in August and early September, according to data on the city of Columbia’s website.
To avoid shaming individuals, the student who runs the University of Misery account has sent content that shows smaller groups of people violating COVID-19 guidelines to the vice chancellor for student affairs rather than posting it online.
Still, the student has faced pushback from other students.
In one instance, the student said they heard from a sorority within an hour of posting a video of some of its members lined up outside of a bar, many of them not wearing masks.