Nine sorority, fraternity houses issued quarantine orders by county health officials

Faculty, staff and students:

Yesterday we shared with you the latest results of our community COVID-19 entry testing. These results included 19,452 tests with a positivity rate of 1.14%. Within that overall population, we noted that our Greek community is testing at a rate of 5.47%.

Today I am writing to inform you that Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health has issued 14-day quarantine orders for residents of nine of our sorority and fraternity houses, and is in the process of issuing an order for a tenth house.

The houses that have been issued quarantine orders are Pi Kappa Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Kappa Psi, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, Sigma Nu, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Beta Theta Pi.

The quarantine orders apply to individuals living at the houses and does not extend to chapter members who live outside the houses.

Earlier these evening, KU leaders and county health officials met with members of the sorority and fraternity community to answer questions about quarantine orders, discuss health and safety strategies, and describe support services available for students who need to quarantine.

As you know, KU enacted mandatory testing for all employees and students upon return to campus for two key reasons: to identify positive cases early and ensure they are isolating appropriately; and to establish baseline positivity rates among campus populations to determine appropriate efforts moving forward, including group-specific interventions. We applaud our Greek community for participating in our testing efforts and for continuing to work with us to improve health and safety within the community.

As you’ve heard me say many times, our situation is fluid and can change rapidly. We anticipate additional county-issued quarantine orders will continue to impact the KU community in the days ahead.

We plan to publish updated results from our campus-wide entry testing this coming Friday.

The ways to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 remain clear: Wear a mask, stay six feet apart from others, and wash your hands. Again, all of us need to do our part.

Thank you for helping KU advance its mission of education, service and research while continuing to prioritize health and safety above all else.

Respectfully,

Doug

Douglas A. Girod
Chancellor