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Original poster

Students thrown off course for throwing a party.

563 replies

Cotbedy · 07/03/2021 11:37

Basically, a load of students held a party of around 16/17 people. They got reported, they all got a £400 fine, apart from the host who got a £10,000 fine.

Then their Uni kicked them all off their courses for bringing the Uni into disrepute.

I think this is probably a fair and reasonable punishment, but DP thinks the Uni have gone too far and they're being unfair.

I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on the matter! Fair or unreasonable?

OP posts:
ddl1 · 07/03/2021 14:24

Dominic Cummings. Has he been fined yet, or imprisoned for fraud?

Dominic Cummings is a horrible person; but he cannot be used forever as an excuse for everyone else to break the rules and do idiotic things. If anything, he should be treated as an awful example of how NOT to act.

FlyingBurrito · 07/03/2021 14:24

@wanderings

Dominic Cummings. Has he been fined yet, or imprisoned for fraud?
Did the bring up a tedious mention of DC that has nothing to do with the thread go off

Seriously, let it go

iwantmysay · 07/03/2021 14:25

Is your child one who's been thrown out?
Multiple warnings for a serious breach when sanctions are clear seems rather a weird situation to get riled up about, to be honest

Goodness no, my DD is out on placement, she is religious in obeying lockdown rules!
But she sees multiple breaches of lockdown in her student life and thinks this is an over the top punishment.

'Im no more riled about it than you are, you appear to be saying YOU can voice your opinion but i cannot because it differs from yours.

I just think students have paid an enormous price during this pandemic and i agree with the fines etc, even the 10k one but causing them a life time of misery by expulsion is over the top.

So Cummings kept his job as did the Scottish MSP who traveled the length of the UK knowing she had Covid!!!

In regard to drug dealing, the student would be jailed for that, so would be off the course in any case.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Higher education
Roszie · 07/03/2021 14:25

This isn't true is it? I think it's a rumour going around.

Nothing reported recently and op not saying which uni so I'm assuming she's been hoodwinked by the fake rumours that we've all heard.

RosesAndHellebores · 07/03/2021 14:26

I'd like to know more about the context. I imagine there will have been warnings, possible poor behaviour towards operational staff, possibly drugs involved. I don't believe this will have been a one off.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 07/03/2021 14:29

@Roszie

This isn't true is it? I think it's a rumour going around.

Nothing reported recently and op not saying which uni so I'm assuming she's been hoodwinked by the fake rumours that we've all heard.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-56204899
StellaDendrite · 07/03/2021 14:31

[quote suspiria777]Just trudged through 90+ replies to this thread and not ONE has bothered to fact check. I had a quick look through the news and found a recent story about some students at Portsmouth facing expulsion because they threw a party in a student halls block/flat in January, we caught and fined, and THEN THREW ANOTHER ONE a few weeks later and that is why some are facing expulsion.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-56204899[/quote]
I was reading the replies and wondering if there was more to it than the details given in the OP. In principal I don’t think it’s too harsh. It wouldn’t have been done by mistake.

I used to work in a field where our enforcement actions occasionally put companies out of business. On the face of it our actions looked harsh but if you knew the whole backstories then we were very lenient and only the most extreme cases were prosecuted.

IdblowJonSnow · 07/03/2021 14:33

Not sure about being chucked off the course for a smallish party. Agree with the fines.

ilovesooty · 07/03/2021 14:36

@Lookatthemshine

Ridiculous and over the top. People have openly said on here that they’re breaking the rules, or family members are yet if they got fined and then lost their jobs you’d cry that was unfair. Young people have had a rough run and they made a mistake - why should this affect the rest of their lives? Shame on you holier than thou bunch baying for blood. And no, I haven’t broken any Covid rules so this is not about me.
They didn't make a mistake. They knew what they were doing. If someone works face to face with people , particularly vulnerable people, I'd expect them to be disciplined too if they did this.
lucel · 07/03/2021 14:37

They're not fully formed adults. They're teens who made a bad decision to attend a small gathering after over a year of restrictions and they have to pay with their education?! That means they'll be paying for the rest of their lives.

Completely over the top. The fine is the punishment and that's where it should stop.

Unicant · 07/03/2021 14:38

I think the fine should have been enough..
Unless they were repeat offenders in which case they should be asked to leave.

lucel · 07/03/2021 14:40

@lucel

They're not fully formed adults. They're teens who made a bad decision to attend a small gathering after over a year of restrictions and they have to pay with their education?! That means they'll be paying for the rest of their lives.

Completely over the top. The fine is the punishment and that's where it should stop.

If it's true that it's a second party, then it's fair to expel!
sunflowersandbuttercups · 07/03/2021 14:40

@lucel

They're not fully formed adults. They're teens who made a bad decision to attend a small gathering after over a year of restrictions and they have to pay with their education?! That means they'll be paying for the rest of their lives.

Completely over the top. The fine is the punishment and that's where it should stop.

They were caught once and warned they'd be expelled. They chose to do it a second time and now they're facing the consequences of that.

I mean, it might be OTT but it's not like they weren't warned about it.

ddl1 · 07/03/2021 14:41

It's harsh, but kids get their arses wiped so much these days, they're turning into arrogant, entitled adults.

It's not 'these days'. There were plenty of arrogant entitled students in the 80s who got away with outrageous behaviour and continued as arrogant entitled adults. One of them is now Prime Minister.

I would say that student behaviour is on average better now than then.

I don't think that the bad behaviour of others is an excuse to behave badly yourself (see my Dominic Cummings comment) but let's not get all 'The Youth of Today! Morals have gone down the drain!' about it.

PinkTonic · 07/03/2021 14:42

@WaxOnFeckOff

My son got a fixed penalty for driving through a bus only gap. He was a bit lost and realised as soon as he turned but would have been dangerous to try to stop and back out onto a busy main road.

Should he be chucked off his uni course?

No but had he been driving dangerously on campus and endangering the lives of other students and staff then yes, obviously.
lucel · 07/03/2021 14:42

-*They were caught once and warned they'd be expelled. They chose to do it a second time and now they're facing the consequences of that.

I mean, it might be OTT but it's not like they weren't warned about it.*

Yep, I cross posted and said if a second party then all bets are off - some should be expelled

Unicant · 07/03/2021 14:45

ah okay if this wasn't the first time these students had done this and they'd been warned they'd be expelled.. then yes fair enough to expell them

wanderings · 07/03/2021 14:46

Seriously, let it go
No, I won't. Boris backing Cummings was a huge step in the wrong direction, and neither of them must be allowed to forget it. If the government expects us to obey their draconian and disproportionate rules, they must all be following them to the letter, and promptly sacking any of the government who steps out of line.

I am going to keep mentioning Dominic Cummings again, and again, and again, until Saint Boris admits that he was wrong, and that Cummings should have been fined and sacked on the spot. "Just let it go" is exactly what the government wants us to do when they mess up. I will not. We should be MUCH angrier about things like that. One rule for them, another rule for us. Pure government hypocrisy, about shrugging and saying "it's what politicians do". We should be holding our highly-paid politicians (who have far too much power) to MUCH higher standards. The government must not be allowed to forget it, and to wave it aside with a casual "can we please move on?".

SofiaMichelle · 07/03/2021 14:47

They're not fully formed adults...

To some, I expect they're PFBs until at least 30.

Absolutely right to kick them out and the fines should have been higher. There's absolutely no excuse for their behaviour and it's not as if they can claim ignorance, is it.

SofiaMichelle · 07/03/2021 14:48

@wanderings

Seriously, let it go No, I won't. Boris backing Cummings was a huge step in the wrong direction, and neither of them must be allowed to forget it. If the government expects us to obey their draconian and disproportionate rules, they must all be following them to the letter, and promptly sacking any of the government who steps out of line.

I am going to keep mentioning Dominic Cummings again, and again, and again, until Saint Boris admits that he was wrong, and that Cummings should have been fined and sacked on the spot. "Just let it go" is exactly what the government wants us to do when they mess up. I will not. We should be MUCH angrier about things like that. One rule for them, another rule for us. Pure government hypocrisy, about shrugging and saying "it's what politicians do". We should be holding our highly-paid politicians (who have far too much power) to MUCH higher standards. The government must not be allowed to forget it, and to wave it aside with a casual "can we please move on?".

Yawn. Zzzzzz
RedRiverShore · 07/03/2021 14:50

Well, no Mumsnetters DC would have been at the university in question because its not RG is it

Firstbellini · 07/03/2021 14:54

It is utterly ridiculous. I get the bus to work and the vast majority of people are not wearing masks. People are not socially distancing in supermarkets. There seems to be no consequence for this.

But we’re concerned about a small party?

Toilenstripes · 07/03/2021 14:55

Oxford has an honour document specific to Covid. 🙄

Erkrie · 07/03/2021 14:57

Well if they had been warned that they might be thrown off their course beforehand then they only have themselves to blame. If they hadn't been warned, then it's not ok, especially as they have been punished by the fine anyway.

littlepattilou · 07/03/2021 14:58

IMO it's harsh.

I am also a bit Hmm at the fact that @Cotbedy felt the need to name-change, and can't be arsed to name the uni.

@Cotbedy
It's interesting how many people think it's fair!.

So just because more people agree with you than not, you assume your opinion is correct. How supremely arrogant.

You are not 'correct.' It's an opinion. And the opinions of the posters who think it's harsh, are just as valid, and 'correct,' as the posters who think they deserved to get expelled.

If you are so sure of how correct you are, why the name-change?

As a few others have said, although what they did is stupid, having this affect the rest of their lives is ridiculous, unfair, and very harsh.

I bet the people saying they deserved it, would have a different attitude if it had been THEIR child being booted out of uni. Hmm