"We said, 'Please, for the sake of all of us, let's not do that anymore,'" said Caldwell, the SGA president.
The freshmen responded with comments such as, "Y'all don't understand, y'all got to have a first-year experience. If that was y'all's freshman year, y'all would be doing the same thing," Caldwell said. "Most upperclassmen were like, 'We don't think we'd be doing the same thing. You have to remember that this is a pandemic and you're not going to have a regular freshman year or experience.'"
Practicality won the day. The upperclassmen schooled the newcomers about the rules of engagement in the pandemic era.
Caldwell, who is in her senior year, said she and her classmates saw the videos on social media of UNC Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University students partying in the first weeks of the semester and then saw their campuses abruptly shut down. "We don't want that to happen here," she said. "We'd like to stay on campus as long as possible."
Simmons, the vice chancellor, said most students understand the university shares this goal, and that's why the "we get it" tweet was widely retweeted and liked.
“Message heard and definitely received,” he said. The students got a pass.
"We gave them some grace and showed some understanding since it was their first time on the college campus," Simmons said. "But we made clear that we can't have this happen again."
It did happen again -- a group of roughly the same size with a mix of students gathered outside the student center a week later. Student affairs and university relations staff, accompanied by campus police and security guards, descended and broke up the gathering. This time there was no gentle tweet.
Simmons said the students were told in no uncertain terms that if they gathered again, they would individually “be referred to the student disciplinary process and we will deal with you harshly.” Repeat offenders would “be
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