Pitt delays in-person classes, warns students about partying

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The University of Pittsburgh adjusted its coronavirus strategy Wednesday, and delayed the start of in-person instruction into September as a top university official admonished students in a stark warning about partying and ignoring social distancing.

The decision came just a few days before in-person instruction was to start Monday. Online-only classes began Wednesday and students moved into dorms last week. Now, in-person instruction is delayed until Sept. 14.

“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,” the dean of students, Kenyon Bonner, wrote in a message to students. “Let me be clear: Your behavior is threatening a successful fall term for all of us.”

Provost Ann Cudd told the campus in an email that the schedule adjustment will allow students to start in-person classes at the same time after they complete a staged arrival and shelter-in-place procedures. About 29,000 students attend Pitt’s main campus.

Pitt's change came a day after Carnegie Mellon University said its fall semester would begin online only for undergraduates.

Pitt had said earlier this summer that it will offer certain classes through both in-person and remote instruction. Carnegie Mellon University has said it will offer a hybrid model in which some classes will be conducted strictly online while others will be offered through both in-person and remote instruction.

Pitt initially reported low rates of infection based on early tests of students who arrived on campus.

In other coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania:

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SENATOR SEEKS MASK REVERSAL

The chairman of the state Senate Education Committee had a request of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine at the end of a hearing on schools reopening Wednesday — reverse the requirement that schoolchildren wear masks.

Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, told Levine it would build good will.

“My simple request first is walk back the mandate of the masks,” Langerholc said, then offered words of support to school officials making tough decisions about reopening in-person learning this fall.

“No matter what happens, no matter what decisions we make from a local level, someone will challenge it or someone will question it,” Langerholc said, urging them to “do what you’ve prepared for for months.”

The Wolf administration this week said it was clarifying that masks must be worn in school, even when students and educators are 6 feet apart.

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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.