Four St. John Vianney College Seminary students have been reported to the Dean of Students office for possibly violating a quarantine triggered by a COVID-19 outbreak that had resulted in 33 resident cases as of Thursday.

Dean of Students Linda Baughman said a complaint was filed with her office earlier this month, accusing four seminarians of visiting dining facilities the weekend after the entire 105-student SJV residence was placed in quarantine on Friday, Dec. 4. That quarantine followed an initial finding of 12 positive tests.

The complaint launched St. Thomas’ student conduct process, which reviews reported violations of university policies, according to the Dean of Students office.

“We have identified those students, and we are following up with those students through the student conduct process,” Baughman said.

Meal ordering confusion

The Rev. Michael Becker, SJV Rector, said that the online ordering form that students in quarantine use to order meals was down the weekend of Dec. 5 and that seminarians were only getting to-go meals in university dining facilities through that weekend.

Under quarantine protocol, students pick up meals once a day in the Anderson Student Center, according to Becker.

“My understanding is that no SJV seminarian would sit down to eat in the facilities,” Becker said.

Baughman confirmed that the website was down that weekend and that there was “communication confusion.” Students in SJV began using the quarantine meal ordering form on Monday, Dec. 7, to obtain meals per university protocol, according to both Baughman and Becker.

However, on the evening of Dec. 8, a TommieMedia staff member saw a group of eight SJV seminarians walking out of the residence toward the lower quad. It was unclear where they were going.

Students in quarantine are only allowed to leave their residence to pick up meals, go to medical appointments or go for a walk — all of which must be done alone and masked.

“Everybody is supposed to be maintaining social distance of 6 feet or more, and, of course, that rings very true for any students in quarantine,” Baughman said.

According to Becker, there was “no organized activity” that night among SJV residents.

“The (seminarians) were in general in their rooms, but I did hear from a brother priest that some walked around our building, praying for an end to the pandemic,” Becker said. “Praying the pandemic is allowed, but I wouldn’t have wanted them walking around the building, I guess.”

The university has a “unique partnership” with the seminary school, Baughman said. St. Thomas does not own the SJV building, which sits on North Campus adjacent to Ireland Hall. However, SJV students are considered St. Thomas students and are expected to follow the same university policies that all other students follow.

“They are accountable to our code of conduct,” Baughman said. “They are accountable to the Common Good Commitment, just like all undergrad students who signed the Common Good Commitment this fall.”

Message to all

Baughman emphasized that all St. Thomas students should continue following COVID-19 guidelines on campus so the university can remain open.

Baughman noted that current COVID-19 protocols “will likely need to remain in place” during spring semester.

“We are still open right now because, by far, the majority of the St. Thomas student body has done a really good job.”

Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.

(Editor’s note: This story was updated Friday, Dec. 18 to reflect the number of reported students.)