IU: High school punishment for peaceful protest won't affect admissions decisions

The assurances came after students at dozens of U.S. high schools walked out of class last week to call for stricter gun laws in response to the recent shooting at a Florida high school. Administrators at some schools allowed the protests and promised not to punish students for leaving class, but others threatened disciplinary action.

Students started asking college admissions officials, often through social media, whether such disciplinary action would hurt their chances of being accepted. There were so many inquiries, the National Association for College Admission Counseling issued a statement encouraging colleges and universities to clarify their policies. Institutions such as Northwestern University and Dartmouth College took to Twitter Friday. IU followed suit Saturday with the following tweet from the Indiana University Bloomington Admissions account:

“For all our future Hoosiers: At IU, we encourage students to engage in meaningful, informed and civil discourse regarding difficult and important issues. Disciplinary action associated with participation in peaceful protest will not affect your admission decision in any way.”

The Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis admissions Twitter account put out a similar statement Monday.