Flood Ruins More Than 3,000 Diplomas at University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh students expecting their diplomas in the mail will have to wait a little longer. The papers that symbolize their achievement were ruined by floodwaters that inundated Thackeray Hall, a campus building where diplomas awaiting delivery are stored.

Heavy rains hammered Pittsburgh last Wednesday, leaving several buildings severely damaged, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. The diplomas were on the ground floor of Thackeray Hall when the building was flooded.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said that the delivery of the diplomas will be delayed 10 days. The university must double-check names before mailing the diplomas out on July 2. Commencement was held on April 26, and diplomas, which aren't given out at the ceremony, are usually mailed the following weeks.

Fedele, who said an incident like this has never happened before at Pitt, did not reveal the cost of the damage or of the printing and delivering of the new diplomas. But the Utah-based Michael Sutter Co., which isn't working with Pitt, told the Tribune-Review that the process could cost the school from $9,000 to $21,000.