All Chamberlain freshers sent ‘warning letter’ after ‘severe’ social distancing breach

An incident has been reported at Chamberlain Halls in which a large gathering took place in breach of  social distancing regulations. The University of Southampton has responded by holding everyone in the halls responsible.

The university has sent an email to all students in Chamberlain explaining that the “actions reported are very serious and not in line with the expectations set out to you as a member of the University of Southampton”.

The email also told students “even if you were not in attendance at the gathering last night, failure to report the incident means all residents of Chamberlain Hall will be held equally responsible”. A copy of the email will be retained for all students in Chamberlain on the central Student Disciplinary record system.

The Soton Tab spoke to a student living in Chamberlain who said: “There were a load of people drinking in the courtyard of Chamberlain Halls”. She added that students “got told off for not snitching, even if we had no part in it”. “They never said we had to report breaches to anyone, the information we’ve been given is just telling us to follow government guidelines”.

The student added that she had emailed the university saying “it was unfair as I couldn’t hear anything at the time so there was no way I could have reported it”, the university replied saying her comments have been noted.

Societies and students are calling on the SU and university to “issue an apology” and “remove the disciplinary records from innocent students’ files”.

The Soton Tab has contacted the university for a comment.

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