Pitt bars 8 students from campus for violating covid-19 guidelines

University of Pittsburgh officials barred eight students on Wednesday for flouting the university’s rules and guidelines meant to mitigate the spread of covid-19 among students, a spokesperson for the school said.

“We must do better,” Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner wrote in an email to students Wednesday afternoon.

The eight students were placed on interim persona non grata status, which means they are restricted from campus and university facilities.

“Despite compliance by most of our student body, however, we have had a concerning number of reports about off-campus large gatherings and parties where students are not physical distancing or wearing face coverings, as well as on-campus outdoor gatherings where too many people are not following physical distancing guidelines,” he wrote.

Bonner noted that while Allegheny County’s covid-19 guidelines allow for indoor gatherings of up to 25 people, “most residences—both on and off campus—simply cannot safely accommodate this number of people and maintain proper physical distancing.”

The individual suspensions come a day after the university announced the interim suspensions of nine Greek life chapters for alleged violations of the Health and Safety Guidelines and the Student Code of Conduct.

The sororities and fraternities involved are: Alpha Tau Omega, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Sigma Phi Epsilon on August 19. On August 24, the school reported suspensions of Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Delta Delta Delta, and Delta Chi.

University officials noted in announcing the Greek life suspensions that individual students involved would face punishment that could include housing suspensions and restricted access to campus.

Surveillance testing for the virus among asymptomatic students has turned up few positive cases since it began earlier this month, coinciding with the first day of move-in for students.

Since Aug. 12, 1,225 students have taken a self-administered covid-19 test, and two have come back positive. More surveillance testing will take place Thursday and Friday.

Since Aug. 1, 14 students have tested positive for the virus, though the university is only counting those students who were on campus within the two weeks prior to their positive test. Eleven of those cases were active and in isolation as Sunday.

Under the same metric, eight Pitt employees have tested positive in the same time frame, and five are active.

Students in Oakland expressed frustration at the Greek life news – with those who hosted parties, not with the university’s actions

“We have an obligation to keep everyone safe,” freshman Alex-Jaden Peart told the Tribune-Review on Tuesday. “I understand you want to have the college experience, but if you do this, you’re going to get repercussions.”

Senior Elizabeth Johnson said most students are abiding by the covid-19-related rules. Fraternities and sororities who flout those guidelines are the problem, she said.

“It does kind of make me mad,” she said. “I feel like they think they’ve above us.”

Pitt had previously warned students that partying could lead to super-spreading of the virus, and that could push the school into shutdown mode.

“Over the past few days, I have been alerted by students, parents and community members that a large number of students are holding and attending parties without wearing face coverings and without observing physical distancing guidelines,” he wrote in an email to students Aug. 19. “Let me be clear: Your behavior is threatening a successful fall term for all of us.”