Dartmouth students reprimanded for breaking rules

HANOVER, N.H. (WCAX) - It’s day two of the move-in for students at Dartmouth College, and officials say some students are already breaking COVID pledges they agreed to.

When new students arrive on campus, the very first thing they do, even before being tested for Covid-19, is to sign a code of conduct for the fall semester which includes not going to big parties.

It’s not exactly how incoming freshman imagined their first year of college. “The obvious things, I won’t get to hang out with people, there will be a lot less social events, classes are going to be different, but at the same time I still get to be here and have at least some type of experience,” said freshman Christian Caballero.

Fellow students are already putting that experience in jeopardy. Twenty-three grad students at the Tuck School of Business who were already on campus over the summer, were recently caught hanging out at a residence hall. The students' conduct is being reviewed and they all could face disciplinary action.

The fraternity Phi Delta Alpha has been suspended for possible multiple policy violations. Two undergraduates connected to an incident at the fraternity at the end of August were sent home and lost the ability to register for on-campus classes for the rest of the academic year.

“It kind of sucks that I can’t go to a few frat parties, but if you look at it on the large scale -- a four-year college experience -- I feel like I’m going ok,” said Josephine Kim, a first-year student from Alabama. She says she approves of Dartmouth’s zero-tolerance approach. “I am really glad that Dartmouth is super strict about the guidelines and I’m glad that we get to come to campus in the first place,” Kim said.

“What I do think is slightly unrealistic is to believe that students will 100% comply. Because there is always going to be one or two people who decide to be the rebel,” said Christian Caballero, a first-year student from Texas.

But others, like senior Hailey Ricciardi, say the strict rules could be part of the problem. “I think that students will find their sneaky ways to try to lie and cheat and get around the rules and I think that the only thing you are going to do is force kids to go inside, which will end up being worse for everyone in the long run,” she said.

Students say their biggest fear is that a couple of bad apples could end up spoiling the bunch. Classes are set to start on September 14th.

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