Back to School

Pitt temporarily suspends a quarter of all Greek life chapters for allegedly violating health guidelines

PITTSBURGH — University of Pittsburgh students continue to move onto campus for the new school year, but in phases to make it safer.

Pitt officials said not all students are on campus yet. Right now, the cases remain low with 14 student positive cases within the last 10 days.

Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner has been working on bringing the students back to school for months now, but he had harsh words for anyone wanting to come back to school and party and disobey masks and social distancing.

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Two weeks into the moving in process, he said he is proud of his students but remains clear on the mission.

“Clear, proactive consequences,” Bonner said.

He didn't have an exact number but said more than a handful of students have been sanctioned due to their bad behavior.

“We’re not using police, but we are getting our information from students and the community,” Bonner said.

The information, he said, has led to sanctions against several fraternities and sororities and to students.

On Monday, the university suspended a quarter of all Greek life chapters.

Pitt released the following statement regarding the suspensions:

“The University has received reports that individual students as well as several fraternity and sorority chapters – Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Delta Delta Delta, and Delta Chi – may have been involved in conduct that violates the University’s Health and Safety Guidelines, as well as other violations of the Student Code of Conduct. Investigations have begun. The students involved have been placed on interim Persona Non Grata and modified interim housing suspensions have been given, and all above mentioned fraternity and sorority chapters have been placed on interim suspension of registration. This means that the individual students are restricted from campus and all University facilities, and that those chapters must cease all organizational operations, until the student conduct process is complete. Our policies and expectations have been made very clear to our students. Your actions have consequences. If you want to experience campus life as well as in-person classes this semester, students must support the health and well-being of the members of our community with their actions. We encourage all students to reflect on their involvement in our campus community as well as their organization’s commitment to a culture that values excellence and the well-being of its community members. All students are encouraged to read our expectations and potential consequences herehttp://pi.tt/safety.”

The university confirms to Channel 11 this follows suspensions of two other sororities and three fraternities -- Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Phi Epsilon.

A new Pitt COVID-19 dashboard was available on its website Monday to provide an overview of cases on the Pittsburgh campus.