BATON ROUGE - Hours after LSU said it was trying to avoid kicking out students who did not abide by the university's entry protocols, the school says it's now begun unenrolling dozens who refused to comply.

An LSU spokesperson said 78 students received notices Wednesday evening saying they were being "resigned" from the school and given a 50-percent refund. The alert added that students have until 4 p.m. Sept. 17 to complete registration and be re-admitted to their courses.

Read the email sent to students below. 

This email is to notify you that you have been resigned from Louisiana State University and provided a 50% refund due to failure to comply with LSU’s Entry Test Verification procedures.

As a student, you were sent numerous notifications regarding the Entry Test Requirement and reminders to comply. Should you want to re-enroll at the university, you must complete the Entry Test Verification Survey. You will then need to email the Office of Academic Affairs at academicaffairs@lsu.edu stating your desire to be reinstated and added back to your courses.

The deadline to be re-added and to complete registration is THIS FRIDAY, September 17th at 4:00 pm, CST.

LSU first threatened to kick students out last week if they did not complete the online entry process by Sept. 10. That process included notifying the university of their vaccination status and submitting proof of a recent COVID test.

In the days leading up to that deadline, LSU warned students who did not report their status would be "unenrolled from LSU and receive a prorated tuition refund."

The university last reported on the day of the deadline that about 1,000 students still had not met those requirements. Wednesday afternoon, LSU President Dr. William Tate IV said that number was down to about 400.

Tate was in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss LSU's coronavirus "mitigation strategies." Tate said during a virtual news conference held at the White House around 2 p.m. that no students had been kicked out at that time.

“We had 400 still not in compliance, but have been calling those students to get them in compliance. The goal isn’t to expel but to get students to comply,” said Tate, answering questions during the virtual conference.

LSU added that 80 percent of on-campus students and 70 percent of faculty and staff have shown proof of getting at least the first shot of the vaccine. 

So far, more than 80% of students and 70% of faculty and staff have provided proof of vaccination, with the numbers rising each day. President @WFTate4 provides a full update on LSU’s COVID protocols and mitigation efforts in this video. pic.twitter.com/Tj1sdsXR8q

— Office of the LSU President (@LSUpresident) September 15, 2021