Is it OK for a college to quarantine a sick student in a residence hall – where the rest of the students could catch the illness?

At least one group of students is saying, “No!”

At Boston University, more than 75 students recently joined a Facebook group called “Say NO to Quarantining in BU residence halls with communal bathrooms.”

“If there are better places to quarantine someone, why were they put here, when we could all get infected on a healthy floor?” asked Becca Wilkinson, a sophomore and the creator of the group.

When Wilkinson and several other students complained about a student moving into an empty room on their floor, they were told by the residence hall director it’s OK to share a bathroom with someone showing flu-like symptoms.

According to The Daily Free Press, Wilkinson and the other residents were told to use another bathroom if the situation concerned them.

Colin Riley, a college spokesman, said students in isolation are given specific guidelines, such as wearing a mask whenever they leave their room.

At last count, 97% of nearly 300 colleges surveyed by the American College Health Association have reported new cases of flu-like illness on their campuses. Even areas where the flu was thought to have subsided – the Southeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast – are seeing an increase in the number of sick students.

Are the BU students overreacting? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Tags: American College Health Association, Becca Wilkinson, Boston University, Colin Riley