Wesleyan University expelled two students for their involvement in a late Feb. drug-poisoning incident that sent several other students to the hospital.
According to the Wesleyan Argus, the school announced the two dismissals in an email to the university community. Five students have been arrested for the incident, including the two who were expelled, while the other three remain suspended.
"Wesleyan is committed to providing a learning environment in which all students can thrive," Michael Whaley, vice president for student affairs at Wesleyan, wrote in the email. "The use of illicit drugs is clearly an unacceptable detriment to that environment, and our policies in this regard are firm and clear. Wesleyan's Code of Non-Academic Conduct prohibits underage and unlawful possession, use, abuse, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol. Depending on the circumstances of a case, students who violate this policy may face a range of disciplinary actions, from being required to attend drug/alcohol education and counseling to suspension or expulsion."
On Feb. 22, 10 students and two visitors were hospitalized for an overdose on MDMA, or the party drug known as "Molly."
"As far as I know, the procedures that we followed in the investigations were in accord with our policies. Wesleyan very unusually will enter students' rooms through permission by the Vice President for Student Affairs," Wesleyan President Michael Roth told the Argus. "That's there for safety reasons and reasons that may have to do with criminal activity... We are very aware that students want to feel a sense of privacy, but especially in the wake of the extraordinary danger some of our students were put in, we really felt that we had to take some unusual measures that are in accord with our policies."
