The governor of Florida wants universities and colleges in the state to take it easy on students who run afoul of coronavirus restrictions while on campuses this fall.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a bill of rights for students in the state who are caught congregating in large groups. DeSantis added that it was “draconian” to expel students for campus safety violations.
“I understand that universities are trying to do the right thing,” DeSantis told reporters at the Capitol in Tallahassee on Thursday. “But, I personally think it’s dramatically draconian that a student could get potentially expelled for going to a party. That’s what college kids do.”
His proposal came two weeks after Florida State University reported that close to 1,000 students contracted the disease following a series of large gatherings on campus that were captured on video.
On Thursday, the Florida Department of Health reported over 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus and more than 150 deaths in which patients tested positive for the highly contagious disease.
