Dartmouth quarantines 23 students over ‘serious offense’ against COVID-19 rules

Nearly two dozen graduate students at Dartmouth College have been ordered to quarantine after the school said they violated COVID-19 safety measures.

The school said security officers were “summoned” to a dorm housing first-year graduate students following a social gathering Friday night that violated pandemic safety protocols.

A spokeswoman for the school said in an email to New Hampshire outlet Valley News on Tuesday that 23 students from the Tuck School of Business have been ordered to quarantine “out of an abundance of caution.”

The students had already been tested twice and quarantined for 14 days prior to classes resuming, Dartmouth spokeswoman Diana Lawrence told The Hill.

She added that the students would now be required to complete an additional 14-day quarantine period and would be retested for the virus.

Students’ actions for violating the pandemic safety measures will be reviewed by the college and by the Tuck School of Business via its conduct processes.

Tuck School of Business Dean Matthew Slaughter said the unauthorized gathering held in the dorm “was a serious offense and threat to the well-being of our community. It will be handled accordingly.”

The dean said in an email to the college community on Saturday that an investigation into the matter would be “thorough and expeditious,” Valley News reported.

Schools around the country have been forced to respond to social gatherings held on or near campus as they work to limit the spread of COVID-19, with many colleges and universities limiting larger gatherings.

Dartmouth said two undergraduates were also sent home and cannot register for on-campus classes the rest of this year following an incident that involved three alumni at the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity on Aug. 29, the Valley News reported.

“In light of possible multiple policy violations at its fraternity house, Phi Delta Alpha was immediately temporarily suspended until the situation has been reviewed through our Community Standards and Accountability process,” spokeswoman Diane Lawrence said in an email to the newspaper.

The investigation at the business school comes as around half of the enrolled undergraduates began their return to campus this week for the start of classes on Sept. 14.

The Hanover school has conducted 1,526 tests so far and has found no students or faculty positive with the virus.

Still, four students out of 1,502 who underwent “pre-arrival testing” have tested positive for COVID-19 and will remain at home until their quarantine period is over.

Updated: Sept. 10 at 3:38 p.m.