UK and Lexington police are partnering this weekend to cut down on the number of large gatherings where students aren’t following COVID-19 safety guidelines. When the Kentucky Wildcats took the field against Auburn last Saturday, some photos of UK students, clearly breaking COVID-19 health guidelines at house parties and while tailgating in apartment complex parking lots emerged.
As the week began, UK Spokesman Jay Blanton said they were taking complaints and students could face disciplinary action but it’s difficult to crack-down on off-campus gatherings because they are out of the jurisdiction. As of Friday, the UK Police Department began a partnership with the city of Lexington and Lexington Police. UK Police Chief Joe Monroe said they “will aggressively look for some of these violations that we would consider code of conduct violations on the University’s part. Then we will be referring those individual students to the conduct office for follow up.”
Students can face sanctions up to expulsion if they are repeat offenders and Lexington Police can issue citations and fines to anyone who isn’t wearing a mask or is part of a mass gathering. The Coronavirus safety guidelines are listed in UK’s Student Code of Conduct.