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Posted on 02/19/2021 6:18:22 PM PST by lightman
Lehigh University is cracking down on students and groups throwing parties amid a coronavirus outbreak on its South Bethlehem campus.
There are 379 active coronavirus cases among Lehigh students and more than 600 in quarantine. The university’s test positivity rate jumped to 8% last week, prompting Lehigh to urge student caution last Friday.
Yet, some students did not heed that message. At least three Greek organizations are facing student conduct charges for parties thrown in the last week, according to the university’s student affairs website.
Chi Phi is accused of hosting a “COVID party” on Feb. 11 that was attended by students who’d recently tested positive for the coronavirus as well as students who’d already been infected, according to the charges.
“This past weekend, both on- and off-campus parties or large gatherings were reported and the ones we were made aware of were quickly shut down,” Vice President of Student Affairs Ricardo Hall said in a message to undergraduate students. “As a result, several students and student organizations have been placed on interim suspension and face the very real possibility of eviction from university housing, suspension, or even expulsion. The consequences are great because the stakes are high.”
Lehigh’s outbreak is contributing to Northampton County having the state’s second highest per capita infection rate — 43 new cases per 100,000 people — over the past week. Northampton is averaging 132 new cases a day over the last seven days.
The vast majority of Lehigh students are “doing everything they can to keep themselves and everyone around them safe,” in hopes of returning to a more normal campus life, Hall wrote. These students are left demoralized and frustrated as they “regularly observe friends, housemates, and acquaintances ignoring health and safety measures such as wearing masks, especially off campus,” he said.
Hall did not identify any of the violators, but the university’s student affairs conduct website shows organizations facing charges.
They include:
Alpha Tau Omega allegedly hosted an off-campus party with alcohol on Feb. 13.
Delta Upsilon is facing two charges. It is alleged the fraternity hosted an in-person recruitment event on Feb. 11, which resulted in it being placed on a modified temporary status. The following night, Lehigh University police were called to the 400 block of Birkel Avenue, where several Delta Upsilon members live, after receiving a report that about 15 people had entered the house.
Chi Phi hosted the “COVID” party Feb. 11.
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Lehigh sucks.
Lehigh should be expelled from academia for charging greater than free tuition.
They have two astronauts, Lee Iacocca, and Robert Durst.
(maybe forget the last one)
“Alpha Tau Omega allegedly hosted an off-campus party with alcohol on Feb. 13.”
My college frat does this all the time, for the past 50 years. As long as there are no frat symbols and it’s off campus, the school has no legal claim as it is a simple party with no official affiliation with the university. Every time the admin lawyers would sue, they were always shot down in court.
I fail to see an issue with this. Lehigh college thinks the student body is adult enough to agree to get into as much as $200k+ of student debt for an undergrad degree, so why are they not sufficiently adult and responsible to make a calculated risk to get infected and recover, because nearly every person in that age range would recover after a mild sickness and thereafter contribute to herd immunity in the local population. Used to be this is how we treated chickenpox, and in the early days of covid, covid parties were actually a thing among the hip and intelligent crowds.
Remember when adults jut lived their lives and dealt with the consequences?
Good grief. Expelled for a party because covid karens freaking out.
Good lord.
They are not rulers over all aspects of our lives.
This only works if we give the the power. Cripes.
Are you from Lafayette?
God bless these kids for taking one for the team to get us to herd immunity!
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to work at a university.
My cousin works at Lehigh & she still works from home. She is the only conservative in her office so she prefers to be home.
They should be given a commendation for performing their civic duty. The pandemic will be over only when herd immunity threshold is reached. That will happen more quickly when low risk groups such as college students achieve immunity by recovering from the disease.
Their mistake was calling it a “Covid party”. They should have called it a “gathering against systemic racism”. That would have gotten the support of the university.
Don’t you mean “Lousyette”?
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