Stay tuned in to our local news coverage: Listen to 90.7 WMFE on your FM or HD radio, the WMFE mobile app or your smart speaker — say “Alexa, play NPR” and you’ll be connected.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is drafting a bill of rights for university students to protect them against new coronavirus regulations.

Thanks to Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, M.D./Ph.D., Stanford Medical School, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School & Dr. Michael Levitt, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate, Stanford Medical School for joining me for an evidence-based discussion of COVID-19.https://t.co/oOZ4C9xDeD

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 24, 2020

His comments came at a panel on further reopening schools and businesses in Tallahassee.

The two hour-long conference featured Stanford University Professor of Medicine Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Harvard University Medical School Professor of Medicine Dr. Martin Kulldorff and Stanford University Professor of Structural Biology Michael Levitt.

DeSantis said it’s incredibly draconian that a student would be expelled for going to a party during the pandemic.

“That’s what college kids do and they’re at low-risk and I just think that we’ve got to be reasonable about this and really focus the efforts on where the most significant risk is.”

Still, DeSantis applauded public universities and colleges in Florida for offering in-person instruction. 

“And I will give our universities credit. They have not gone way overboard the way some of these others throughout the rest of the country. I mean some of these stories are just absolutely horrible. And just if I were a parent you know to have a student treated the way some of those colleges in other parts of the country have treated them. I would be none too happy on that. But there may be a better balance to be struck going forward.”

Last month, eleven Florida State University students were arrested and suspended after attending a large party without face masks. 

If you’d like to listen to this story, click on the clips above.