The matter is being further investigated by the university as nine of 10 fraternity members are residing in campus quarantine rooms
Ten students living in the Theta Chi fraternity house were sent quarantine orders from Yolo County Public Health on Nov. 13.
The residents of the Theta Chi house on Russell Blvd are said to have held a gathering of 10-20 people despite a resident testing positive for COVID-19 prior to the gathering, according to a UC Davis press release. Theta Chi President Grant Hoffman responded to a request for comment with a referral to the fraternity’s national chapter. After multiple attempts to contact the national chapter, there has not been a response at the time of publication of this article.
The Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA) holds jurisdiction over off-campus social misconduct. Factors considered by OSSJA in determining whether to exert jurisdiction over off campus social misconduct cases include whether injury, damage or risk of harm occurred and whether the “off-campus conduct occurred at or involved activities of a registered student organization,” according to the OSSJA website.
“We are deeply disappointed and troubled by the alleged behavior and decisions demonstrated by these students,” said Chancellor Gary May in the UC Davis press release. “The majority of students, faculty and staff have taken Yolo County Public Health guidelines very seriously since the pandemic began earlier this year. We have awareness campaigns going strong on campus and in Davis.”
According to the UC Davis’s campus ready COVID-19 precaution plan, eligible groups for campus provided COVID-19 rapid testing include residents of sorority or fraternity houses.
When a test result administered at the campus testing kiosk is positive, the campus contact tracing team contacts the student with information about campus provided quarantine rooms, where nine out of the 10 members of the Theta Chi fraternity house are currently residing.
Written by: Hannah Blome — campus@theaggie.org
Correction: The original version of this article used a picture of the Theta Xi fraternity house instead of the Theta Chi fraternity house. The article has been updated to correct the error.
Editor’s Note: Since the publication of this article, the UC Davis Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA) investigated the allegations against Theta Chi and found that there was not enough evidence to “establish a finding that there was a gathering that included individuals outside the household.”
