Cheers to probation, suspension and learning lessons outside of the classroom.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa — During syllabus week of the fall 2020 semester, a student invited eight friends to his downtown apartment for a get-together. By 10 p.m. they were blasting music when the other roommate arrived home with his significant other. The gathering was now 11, one more than the max allowed because of COVID restrictions.

And because of a noise complaint, this gathering ended up costing the student hundreds of dollars in fines lawyer fees and a run-in with Penn State’s student conduct office for violating COVID safety protocols.

“The COVID violation got sent to [student] conduct and on my 21st birthday, a month and a half after the incident, I received an email from conduct saying that they are now looking into the situation” said the student, who is being kept anonymous to protect his identity in sharing his story because of the serious ramifications of the incidents he described.

For Penn State students there are serious and costly consequences to violating COVID protocols. Students have faced penalizations ranging from probation to expulsion.

This student said the State College police responded to the noise complaint, and since there were over 10 people at the apartment, he faced an $800 noise violation, a $400 COVID-19 violation, hundreds of dollars in lawyer fees, 20 hours of community service, a course on student conduct and COVID-19 safety, and multiple presentations to their specific school board which is being kept anonymous for the privacy of the board and the student.

After student conduct reviewed the case, they assigned this student to two-hour time slots at the White Building to help out with COVID-19 testing. Furthermore, he had to create an ethics presentation and present it to his undergraduate dean, graduate dean and three professors in the program.

“I shouldn’t be going through thousands and thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and probation requirements and time wasted,” he said. “I understand a rules a rule and you have to follow it but, there should be some leniency if I only have 11 people in my apartment.”

This student explains how overwhelming this period was for him. On top of school work, job searching, and the normal daily stressors of life, he was under strict watch by the school and struggling to keep his reputation clear.

“I was literally depressed, I didn’t even tell my parents, I literally paid for my lawyer myself,” he said. “When this whole thing happened in the beginning of the semester I literally did not sleep for like months.”

This student’s roommate was present when the incident occurred. However, he did not face any fines or punishments. The student’s roommate warned him that the music was too loud and they were bound to get in trouble, however, the student decided not to listen.

“The apartment security had come up about a noise complaint so I knew if we didn’t listen then eventually the cops would be called,” said the students roommate. “But once everything happened, I felt bad. He was just so like, low-energy, and mopey, sad.”

The student was diligent and committed to proving himself as a good student and a good person. He was able to convince the board to give him another chance which meant probation until he graduated. Luckily, he avoided suspension and expulsion which could have reshaped the course of his educational and professional career.

This student’s experience was not necessarily unique. For example, another student at Penn State was suspended last semester for also having too many people at his off-campus apartment. Due to a misunderstanding and being at the wrong place at the wrong time his educational career was jeopardized.

“She [the landlord] let the cops into the apartment and then [the cops] counted every person as they walked out,” said the student who will also be kept anonymous. “We got fined by our landlord, fined by the cops and then they contacted the student conducted,” he said.

In total the police counted 84 people in the apartment. Four people reside in this apartment however, only two were present when this situation took place.

“I was getting uncomfortable with the situation. I went inside and I tried to tell people to leave but people I didn’t know were coming in and asking me, ‘who lives here?’. I honestly just felt taken advantage of,” he said.

The other roommate who was home at the time also got in trouble with student conduct. He had to pay fines, hire a lawyer and was put on probation until he graduates.

“Our situation was interesting because we never got a noise complaint and nothing bad happened. Our landlord was just watching the surveillance and saw the situation and called the cops,” the student’s roommate said.

The student’s roommate explains that he understands why Penn State handled this situation as they did. “There are so many people at house parties that don’t get busted but you have to make an example out of some people so they know, this stuff isn’t okay,” the students roommate said.

Both the student who got suspended, as well as, his roommate had a positive and sensible opinion on the stressful situation that they faced.

“I probably wasn’t ready for the real world quite yet but I tell everyone that it was the best thing that’s ever happened to me, which is interesting,” he said. “I used to be a dean’s list student which now I am again, I’ve just done so much stuff for myself since that eye-opening experience.”