Northeastern Threatens to Rescind Admissions Of Incoming Students Who Said Online They Plan To Party

Northeastern University is throwing down the gauntlet to incoming first-year students: There will be no parties in the time of COVID.

After a student posted a survey on Instagram asking incoming students whether they planned to party when they arrive on campus, the university sent a letter to 115 students who answered “yes” to the poll. The students were warned that if they failed to sign a form committing to protect the campus community, Northeastern would rescind their admission offers.

Expressing an intent to party and encouraging others to do the same “is unacceptable, will not be tolerated, and presents a danger to your health and the health of our community,” wrote Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Madeleine Estabrook.

Recipients are being required to “provide a written response to this notice, acknowledging that you will abide by the Northeastern University Code of Student Conduct” which bars any “disturbance … that presents a clear and present danger to self or others.”

In addition, the incoming students must accept the requirements Northeastern has established for returning to campus, including routine COVID testing and daily wellness checks. They must also "demonstrate appropriate model behavior by actively participating in our Protect the Pack campaign.” The campaign is a campus wide effort Northeastern is launching to emphasize mask wearing and and hand washing and other COVID prevention measures.

A campus spokesperson said the letter should make it very clear to incoming students that “even expressing the intent to disregard the rules will be followed with swift action.”