UConn to applicants: Peaceful protesting won’t affect your admission

The University of Connecticut (UConn) on Friday reassured applicants that their admission decision would not be affected should they be disciplined by their high schools for participating in gun control protests.

The school joins several other colleges and universities who have issued similar messages following the Florida high school shooting last week, which sparked students across the country to stage walkouts to demand action on guns.

“UConn would like to assure students who have applied or been admitted to the University that disciplinary action associated with participation in peaceful protests will not affect your admission decision in any way,” the school tweeted Friday.

UConn would like to assure students who have applied or been admitted to the University that disciplinary action associated with participation in peaceful protests will not affect your admission decision in any way.

— UConn (@UConn) February 24, 2018

High school students nationwide have led the charge on gun control activism in the past week, with many contacting lawmakers and organizing massive protests and walkouts.

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CNN held a town hall this week with survivors of the Florida shooting, at which some of the students confronted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch.

Some school districts have threatened to discipline students who participate in the protests or walkouts, sparking concern among college applicants that their admission could be revoked.

Colleges typically reserve the right to rescind an offer of admission in the event of disciplinary action or other circumstantial changes that would have resulted in the student not being admitted in the first place.

Earlier this week, the admissions director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wrote a blog post reassuring students that peaceful protesting would not negatively affect their admission.

“We believe students should follow compasses over maps, pursuing points of direction rather than specific destinations and trusting they will end up where they belong,” the MIT post read. “As such, we always encourage students to undertake whatever course of action in life is most meaningful to, and consistent with, their own principles, and not prioritize how it might impact their college applications.”