By JACOB BASKES Feb. 1, 2017

Earlier this week, a sophomore was found guilty of cheating on a final exam. As punishment, he will be spending the remainder of the school year at Bates College.

Though the student pleaded guilty, the decision was far more serious than anyone foresaw. “I was begging them to send me home for the spring, or even take away my financial aid,” said the student. “Anything but Bates. It’s completely uncalled for.”

“It was a hard decision to come to,” said Judicial Board Advisor Lesley Levy. “We initially were going to expel the student, maybe chop off a finger, but we eventually concluded we couldn’t go easy on him. Cheating will not be tolerated here.”