San Diego State University has issued 1,428 notices to students who have violated COVID-19 policies. The notices include warnings of possible probation, suspension or expulsion, per Executive Order on student conduct, which is required to notify students of all possible consequences they could face. The University is trying to get a handle on cases after confirming hundreds of cases during the fall semester.
“It was scary. I really didn’t know what was going on,” said Gray Tillett, a freshman at SDSU.
She said she received a letter from the university threatening suspension or expulsion for returning a negative COVID-19 test late. But Tillett said she was under the impression her approved, off-campus testing site was going to send her results to the university. Tillett said she had been taking on-campus tests previously and her results were automatically entered into the SDSU database.
Tillett said she was asked to sign a “suspension in abeyance” agreement but refused because she was worried she could lose privileges.
“I won’t be able to be involved with any other activities, clubs, or even Greek life. I was about to apply to the honors college through San Diego State cause I got Dean’s list my first semester and now that’s really up in the air and I don’t know if I can apply for the honors college anymore,” Tillett said.
Meanwhile, she says she’s waiting to meet with her judicial officer to resolve her case.
A spokesperson for the university couldn't comment on the specific case, but released the following statement:
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“SDSU has rolled out extensive education campaigns through social media, signage, dedicated websites (i.e. SDSU Flex & SDSU.edu/COVID-19), and timely email communications related to the university’s COVID-19 related policies and overall response to the pandemic. In these communications, we have detailed that all members of the university community should adhere to university policy and also county, state and federal public health guidelines and orders.
Given the severity of the pandemic, SDSU continues to pursue disciplinary actions related to both organizational and individual violations should any COVID-19 policies not be followed. Consequences can include an official warning, suspension, or expulsion in extreme cases. To date, 1,428 notices of possible individual or organizational violations have been issued. Those issued to student organizations will include investigations into the alleged violations. Additional notices of violation are pending. Again, due to privacy regulations, additional details about these cases cannot be shared.”
Representatives with the university told NBC 7 they've been sending out notices since September. Each individual case goes through an adjudication process and decisions are made after thorough deliberation.
Gray's father, Mark Tillett, said he’s frustrated with the university’s policies.
“There was no deliberate disobedience to the SDSU policy here. It was all just a clerical issue. I’m hoping we can get this resolved quickly,” Mark said.
