Orange County

UCF suspends fraternity, sorority for not following school’s COVID-19 policies

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The University of Central Florida said Thursday that it had suspended a fraternity and a sorority for not following the school’s COVID-19 policies.

UCF said its Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity placed Zeta Tau Alpha and Sigma Alpha Epsilon on interim organizational suspension Wednesday.

Read: 79 UCF students at 3 sorority houses asked to quarantine after several cases of COVID-19 reported

“ZTA was placed on interim suspension for allegedly hosting an unapproved social gathering on-campus,” the university said. “The sorority followed the university’s process for applying to host an event, but the event was still pending a decision from UCF when they elected to hold it anyway. The event also willfully disregarded the university’s COVID-19 policies and guidelines.”

UCF said SAE was placed on interim suspension for allegedly hosting a large social gathering off-campus that “willfully disregarded the university’s COVID-19 policies and guidelines.”

Two students were also placed on interim suspension for not complying with UCF’s policies.

“One student allegedly did not remain isolated after testing positive for COVID-19, and the other allegedly hosted large social gatherings off-campus that violated university policy,” the university said.

Read: UCF issues stern warning after faculty members violate COVID-19 safety measures

On Tuesday, officials said residents of three on-campus Greek houses had been placed on a two-week quarantine to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 after cases were performed.

The three sororities being quarantined are Zeta Tau Alpha, Kappa Alpha Theta and Alpha Epsilon Phi. Seventy-nine women live in the three houses. Sixteen have tested positive for coronavirus.

Click here to read about the student conduct process.

Jason Kelly

Jason Kelly, WFTV.com

Jason Kelly joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2014. He serves as the station's Digital Executive Producer.