It happened again last week, at Monterrey Mexican Bar and Grill in Mishawaka. Hundreds of people poured into the restaurant late Friday night, with Notre Dame students rushing out of the building and scrambling in the direction of campus as police arrived on the scene.
Just two weeks earlier, a local health official had admonished owners of the Finnie's Next Door bar in downtown South Bend for their role in promoting a largely unmasked “100 Days Before Graduation” party attended by hundreds of ND students.
Both events forced Notre Dame officials to contact trace and take action against students dismissive of the university's COVID-19 protocols.
Notre Dame has established a long list of coronavirus regulations for campus life and clamped down on visitors. In fact, the day before students crammed into Monterrey, the university enacted new on-campus restrictions to curb a rise in COVID cases linked to residence halls and dining facilities.
But the recent off-campus incidents have forced Notre Dame leaders to confront a question that colleges across the county are facing: how do you regulate students' behavior when they leave university grounds, especially when cold temperatures have pushed them indoors and pandemic fatigue has stretched their patience for health guidelines?
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