| UVA Rape Story Collapses; Duke Lacrosse Redux | |
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| abb | Jan 14 2015, 10:25 AM Post #661 |
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http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2015/01/two-u-va-fraternity-chapters-will-not-sign-foa-addenda Two U.Va. fraternity chapters will not sign FOA addenda Chapters have until Jan. 16 to approve new safety measures by Matthew Comey | Jan 14 2015 | 9 hours ago Two University fraternity chapters — Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha Order— announced they will not be signing a new Fraternal Organization Agreement addendum required of fraternities by the University. The addendum was drafted by a variety of stakeholders, including fraternity alumni, current members and the Inter-Fraternity Council, during Winter Break, and fraternities will be required to sign it by Jan. 16 or face suspension by the University. The addendum, coming on the heels of a six-week suspension of organized Greek social activities, would require all IFC chapters to have at least three sober brothers at fraternity functions. The agreement also imposes limits on the types of alcohol which can be served and requires guest lists at parties — and in some cases third-party security personnel, as well. At least half of the 31 IFC fraternities have either signed or plan to sign the addendum in the near future, including Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity at the center of a story in Rolling Stone article published in November which detailed an alleged assault at the fraternity in Sept. 2012. The fraternity signed the new agreement Jan. 8, and Charlottesville Police said Monday their investigation found no “substantive basis” for the claim that the chapter was involved in the incident — though they added the investigation into the alleged attack is still ongoing. The Cavalier Daily is still waiting to hear from several chapters about whether they have yet signed the addendum, but as of Tuesday night no other chapter said they are not planning to sign the agreement. University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn said the University will not comment on the matter until after the Jan. 16 deadline passes. “We remain hopeful that all groups will commit to these reasonable protocols designed to improve student safety,” he said. The national organizations of Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha released nearly identical statements Tuesday, citing a violation of student and organizational rights as reason for not signing the addendum. “The University violated the previous FOA as well as student individual and organizational rights,” the statements read. “The system-wide suspension, which was initiated for reasons that were found to be untrue, unfairly punished all members of fraternities and sororities. It was maintained and used as leverage to require the changes to the FOA. Because we do not accept the validity of a suspension imposed in contravention of the existing FOA, university policy, Virginia law and the constitutional rights of our members, we are not compelled to sign a revised FOA to continue operations on campus.” The chapters also said the addendum could unfairly increase liability faced by the chapters’ members. “Second, [Alpha Tau Omega’s/Kappa Alpha Order’s] own risk management policies, much like the policies of all national fraternities and sororities, are as strict or more strict than this new FOA,” the statements read. “Our chapter will comply with the more restrictive of the policies in its activities.” Alpha Tau Omega CEO Wynn Smiley said the fraternity has traditionally had a good relationship with the University. “This doesn’t reflect our long-term relationship with U.Va. and its administration,” he said. “Just this particular issue is one we take issue with.” Smiley said he is unsure how the disagreement will play out in the coming weeks. |
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| abb | Jan 14 2015, 03:46 PM Post #662 |
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http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/2-uva-fraternities-say-they-wont-sign-agreement-prompted-by-rolling-stone-article/92149 January 14, 2015 by Andy Thomason 2 UVa Fraternities Say They Won’t Sign Agreement Prompted by ‘Rolling Stone’ Article Two fraternities at the University of Virginia say they won’t sign a new, stricter agreement issued by the college in the wake of a now-discredited Rolling Stone magazine article about an alleged sexual assault at a UVa fraternity, Bloomberg reports. The fraternities, Alpha Tau Omega and the Kappa Alpha Order, say the university erred in suspending all Greek activities after the publication of the article, which has not stood up to intense news-media scrutiny. “The fact is the university has never acknowledged that they made a mistake in suspending 25 percent of the student body that had nothing to do with an article that proved to be erroneous,” said Kevin O’Neill, a lawyer representing the two fraternity chapters. Mr. O’Neill added that they plan to operate normally this semester. The university has given fraternities until Friday to sign the new agreement, which, among other things, requires chapters to designate a certain number of “sober brothers” to stand watch at every party. “Some of the things they are asking students to do,” Mr. O’Neill said, “like stand at top of the stairs and monitor rooms, creates a duty the school should be bearing themselves if that’s their concern.” A university spokesman, Anthony de Bruyn, told Bloomberg that UVa was “hopeful” that all fraternities would sign the new protocols. |
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| abb | Jan 15 2015, 05:01 AM Post #663 |
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http://hamptonroads.com/2015/01/two-u-va-frats-refuse-sign-alcohol-agreement Two U. Va frats refuse to sign alcohol agreement By Michael McDonald | Bloomberg News © January 14, 2015 Two University of Virginia fraternities refused to sign onto new rules restricting alcohol consumption at their parties, saying the school is using a discredited Rolling Stone article to punish them unfairly. Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha Order said the university was wrong to suspend all Greek life in the wake of a Nov. 19 article that purported to detail the gang rape of a woman named “Jackie” by seven unidentified members of the Phi Kappa Psi house. Rolling Stone has since apologized for the story, citing “discrepancies” in the account. UVA violated an existing fraternity operating agreement by suspending their activities in November, using the suspension as leverage to force changes that create new liability for the groups, the fraternities said in separate statements. Kevin O’Neill, a lawyer for the two frats, said they will continue operating and plan to initiate new members this semester. “The fact is the university has never acknowledged that they made a mistake in suspending 25 percent of the student body that had nothing to do with an article that proved to be erroneous,” said O’Neill, an attorney at Squire Patton Boggs in Washington. “The university has not apologized and has not explained why they took this action.” Teresa A. Sullivan, UVA’s president, reinstated Greek social activities last week and announced the new operating agreement, which include rules such as a ban on pre-mixed drinks and the requirement that some members serve as sober monitors at parties. Some of the proposed rules could place fraternity members in a precarious legal position, O’Neill said. “Some of the things they are asking students to do, like stand at top of the stairs and monitor rooms, creates a duty the school should be bearing themselves if that’s their concern,” he said. While some fraternity and sorority leaders worked with the university on the new rules, the dissent echoes concerns from some national groups that had opposed the blanket suspension. Before Rolling Stone acknowledged errors in its story, some UVA faculty had called for banning the groups altogether. UVA cleared Phi Kappa Psi this week after Charlottesville police said there was “no basis” to believe that an assault had taken place on its premises. The fraternity signed the accord with UVA. Greek organizations have until Jan. 16 to sign the new agreements, Anthony de Bruyn, a university spokesman, said. “We remain hopeful that all groups will commit to these reasonable protocols designed to improve student safety,” de Bruyn said in an e-mail. |
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| abb | Jan 15 2015, 05:02 AM Post #664 |
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http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2015/01/foa-issues-uva Fraternity organizations sign FOA addendum, reservations linger New requirements contentious for some fraternity members by Katherine Ballington and Luc Cianfarani | Jan 15 2015 | 3 hours ago In an effort to improve current safety procedures, the University is requiring fraternities to sign the new Fraternal Organization Agreement addendum by Jan. 16, or else face the continuation of a suspension first enacted in November. The addendum comes out of intense scrutiny of the University Greek system following a Nov. 19 Rolling Stone article, later retracted, alleging a gang rape at the University’s chapter of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Phi Kappa Psi recently chose to sign the FOA addendum, aiming both to improve safety for its individual members and guests at its events. Third-year College student Stephen Scipione, the University chapter’s president, said he believes the new procedures will aid the prevention of future issues. “Future problems will certainly be mitigated by the new FOA,” Scipione said. “I view it as taking both preventative measures to stop problems from occurring as well as taking reactionary measures designed to have better resources available to deal with any problems if they occur.” While Scipione acknowledged that adjusting to the changes in the short term may prove difficult, he said he hopes the new procedures will begin to feel normal. “I believe it will take a social event or two in order to properly phase in the stipulations in the FOA, as is the case with implementing most new procedures,” Scipione said. “It will become a natural process there on after.” The University’s chapter of St. Anthony Hall also recently accepted and signed the FOA addendum. A third-year brother in St. Anthony Hall, who wished to remain anonymous, said he believes signing the FOA was necessary to retain a relationship with University administration. However, he said he does not think the changes will be difficult to execute. “I think the FOA will be easily implemented,” he said. “All of the changes that were made in the FOA were made to make fraternity functions safer, and I believe they will do that.” Despite potentially jarring changes in safety protocol, he does not expect the recruitment process to be strongly affected. “Recruitment will ultimately remain the same, except for the changes we have to make during parties,” he said. Fourth-year Commerce student Sanjay Palat, the Inter-Fraternity Council public relations chair, said the IFC has yet to discuss what will happen to fraternities that choose not to sign the FOA. “We haven’t discussed what would happen if they choose not to sign the FOA going forward,” Palat said. “That’s something we’ll look at the 16th, if they decide not to sign after that date.” Though University President Teresa Sullivan approved the new measures, Palat said the IFC was not pressured by the University into making specific changes. “The new FOA is not something that was imposed on us by any means,” Palat said. “The new FOA is something that the IFC developed in collaboration with a bunch of different student groups. It was something that was entirely student generated.” One of the changes the agreement requires is for fraternities to have a third-party security agent outside the door at parties where the number of guests in higher than the number of fraternity members present. This agent will need to be provided a printed list of those invited to the party and will be responsible for allowing only those on the list to enter. Palat said while this change will be a financial burden on fraternities, the Council is looking into ways to offset the cost. “We’re looking at funding sources to help mitigate the cost of the security agents right now,” Palat said. “We’re also looking at ways that we can find a market of security agents that are at a lower cost to help reduce the financial burden that this poses to fraternities.” Despite these challenges, Palat said he believes the measures will help in making fraternity parties safer. “We made these changes because we honestly think that all of the changes to the FOA make our community safer, and our parties safer, and are good things,” Palat said. “We see these changes as positive changes that are good for fraternities in the long run.” Not all University fraternities have signed the addendum. Kappa Alpha Order and Alpha Tau Omega have said they will not sign the agreement. At least 13 of the IFC’s 31 fraternities have signed the agreement as of Wednesday night, and at least 10 others said they had not but planned to before the deadline. But not all signatories are entirely satisfied with the new agreement. A member of a fraternity which signed the addendum said it fails to address the concerns which brought about Sullivan’s suspension of fraternity social activities. “I think that the biggest issue I find with [the FOAs] is that they were created in reaction to sexual assaults and many of these restrictions go after what isn’t related to sexual assault and mainly go after creating restrictions of parties,” said the brother, who asked to remain anonymous. Fourth-year College student Jakob Scheidt, former University Phi Sigma Kappa president, said that though the chapter has yet to sign the FOA, he thought the group likely would. He said without support from a fraternity’s national branch it would be difficult for a chapter to reject the agreement. However, despite Phi Sigma Kappa’s probable acceptance of the FOA, Scheidt said he sees problems in the agreement’s language. Additionally, he said the requirement of a third-party security official at parties is worrisome. “The most contentious thing, I think, is the security agent that they’re requiring to be at parties which we have to pay for,” Scheidt said. “It’s going to be a bigger [issue] at smaller fraternities with less resources.” Scheidt also said Rolling Stone’s recent article enabled the University to quickly implement unnecessary changes, even though the story had numerous factual inaccuracies. “It’s an issue of due process,” Scheidt said. “I think if most fraternities had the choice, they would dispute [the FOA]. There is already a lot of policy in place that, for the large part, keeps fraternities pretty safe.” Furthermore, Scheidt said missing from the agreement is a way for the University to determine if the changes are effective. “The University doesn’t seem to have anything in place to measure how effective any of these measures are going to be,” Scheidt said. “We’re just enacting things, and we don’t actually know if we’re making things better.” With the University’s fraternities facing significant modifications of their procedures, the final FOA addendum will move to improve safety throughout the University community by encouraging the cooperation of all the fraternities which signed the agreement this week. “Creating such a document using input from dozens of fraternities inevitably led to much debate,” Scipione said. “But we are all satisfied with the final outcome and are ready to fully cooperate with the new guidelines laid out in the FOA.” Henry Pflager contributed reporting to this article. |
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| abb | Jan 15 2015, 05:39 AM Post #665 |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-phi-kappa-psi-members-speak-about-impact-of-discredited-gang-rape-allegations/2015/01/14/d781ad90-9c04-11e4-bcfb-059ec7a93ddc_story.html U-Va. Phi Psi members speak about impact of discredited gang rape allegations By T. Rees Shapiro January 14 at 7:18 PM CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Phi Kappa Psi brothers sat together in a bedroom, turning the glossy magazine pages as they absorbed the account of a gang rape that allegedly took place within the brick walls around them. The University of Virginia students read the Rolling Stone article that November night in complete surprise. A U-Va. junior said she attended a date party at the fraternity house in 2012 and was lured to a bedroom, where a group of men raped her in what appeared to be a gruesome initiation rite. The students were disgusted, emotional and confused. “Some people actually had to leave the room while they were reading it because they were so upset,” said Phi Psi President Stephen Scipione, 21, a junior from Richmond. But within 24 hours of the article’s publication, the U-Va. students reviewed the fraternity’s records and confirmed their initial suspicions: The magazine’s account was deeply flawed. “We knew that the Rolling Stone story was not true,” said David Fontenot, 22, a senior from McLean, Va. But they also knew “that we would only make things more difficult by fighting it in the media and that our best move was to stay quiet, let the police do their jobs and ride it out until the time was appropriate.” Phi Psi members, speaking publicly for the first time since the allegations surfaced, told The Washington Post that they went into hiding for weeks after their home was vandalized with spray-painted messages calling them rapists and with bricks thrown through windows. They booked hotel rooms to avoid the swarm of protesters on their front lawn. They watched as their brotherhood was vilified, coming to symbolize the worst episode of collegiate sexual violence against women since the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal — which also turned out to be false. “That leads back to the bigger problem in that our society tends to rush to judge without the facts,” Scipione said. “They just see the headline and get upset, and they want to blame it on someone, and obviously we were the easiest targets for that.” Scipione said members of Phi Psi learned about the general allegations in mid-September, when an executive from the fraternity’s national office called an emergency meeting. At the fraternity house, a Phi Psi official outlined what a university official had relayed about the alleged sexual assault. “He basically asked if, one, we knew about [the allegations] and, two, if we had committed it,” said Scipione. “The look around the table was complete shock and awe.” Before the story was published, Scipione said he received an e-mail from Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the Rolling Stone reporter, who asked three questions about the rape allegations but offered no specific details, such as the date of the alleged attack. Scipione said only a small part of his response was included in the article. “More than anything, people wanted to figure out what the truth was,” Fontenot said. After reading the article, Phi Psi leaders scanned archived e-mails and checked bank statements, determining that the fraternity did not host a party on the weekend of Sept. 28, 2012, the time of the alleged attack. They also determined that no Phi Psi members matched the article’s description of the attackers, calling into question one of the main elements of the account. Most alarming to the members was the idea that a gang rape could be part of a hazing ritual. “We vehemently deny that it would be plausible as a ritualistic tradition to join our fraternity,” Scipione said. Fontenot added: “It’s animalistic and totally unrealistic.” Scipione and Fontenot said that the Phi Psi brothers experienced a difficult fall semester but said no one should consider the fraternity members as “victims.” “We don’t want to take away from the real victims, which are the victims of sexual assault,” Fontenot said. “We think it is incredibly unfair that the Rolling Stone article could in any way take away their credibility and the support they need.” Rolling Stone has asked the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism to investigate the handling of the article and has deferred comment until after that inquiry. A Rolling Stone spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Although the Rolling Stone article was discredited and the student’s account challenged — the magazine apologized for inaccuracies after The Post discovered significant discrepancies in the article — it wasn’t until this week that Phi Psi was officially cleared. On Monday, the first day of the spring semester, Charlottesville police announced that an investigation found no basis to believe that an attack occurred at the fraternity. U-Va. also reinstated the fraternity on campus that day, with university President Teresa A. Sullivan issuing a statement: “We welcome Phi Kappa Psi, and we look forward to working with all fraternities and sororities in enhancing and promoting a safe environment for all.” The Greek system that Phi Psi rejoins is one that has spent the past two months focusing on the issue of sexual assault as a result of the campus turmoil the article created. The university administration suspended all fraternity functions through the first full week of January, affecting about one-third of the school’s 15,000 undergraduates. Sullivan said last week that she would immediately lift the ban if fraternities signed a new contract with the school that is designed to discourage binge drinking and enhance safety measures at large parties. Two fraternities — Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha — said Wednesday they would not sign the contract, arguing that their policies are more stringent than what the university outlined and assailing the decision to suspend the houses. “At the end of the day, every fraternity and sorority student at U-Va. was punished with a suspension for doing nothing wrong,” said Kevin O’Neill, an attorney for the two fraternities. “The discussion over the need to sign a new [contract] is a process created to distract from the university’s bad decision in suspending our organizations last fall.” Anthony P. de Bruyn, a spokesman for the university, said in an e-mailed response that “the Greek organizations have until January 16 to sign the new agreements, developed by the student groups themselves, and we will have no further comment or action until that date has passed. We remain hopeful that all groups will commit to these reasonable protocols designed to improve student safety.” University officials said that Phi Psi was the first fraternity to sign the updated agreements, and Phi Psi leaders said the fraternity has instituted a sexual-assault education and awareness program that is mandatory for new members. Spring rush, an annual recruitment period, is scheduled to begin here Thursday night. George Elias, a 2013 graduate, said he took pride in the bonds he forged with the 16 other members of his Phi Psi pledge class. He arrived in Charlottesville in 2009, coming from the Philadelphia suburbs as the only senior in his 1,000-student graduating class to enroll at U-Va., and he joined Phi Psi after he was impressed by the brothers. “I didn’t know anyone in the frat,” said Elias, 24. “They were very accepting of all kinds of people, and they didn’t judge you from your background.” Elias treasures his years at Phi Psi, but when the Rolling Stone article was published, he found himself doubting the people he knew best. As the fraternity was vilified, Elias said, he hesitated to admit to co-workers that he was a member. “The day it came out was the most emotionally grueling of my life,” said Elias, who works for a Washington-area construction firm. He said that members of the fraternity began analyzing the article and quickly challenged troublesome assertions, including that the alleged gang rape was part of a hazing ritual at Phi Psi. “That ritual part hit hard for everyone,” said Elias, who lived in the Phi Psi house his junior and senior years, including in fall 2012, when the attack was alleged to have occurred. “It assumes that everyone that is part of the frat had to do that, and that hurt a lot of us.” Scipione and Fontenot said that the ordeal, while a challenge, brought members of the house closer together. They said that despite the inconsistencies in the Rolling Stone story, the fraternity members hope that sexual assault remains an important topic of discussion at colleges across the country. “Sexual assault on college campuses is a real problem, and it needs to be addressed. And just because one story from Rolling Stone dropped the ball doesn’t mean we can dismiss it,” Fontenot said. “My worst nightmare from this is someone at this school or anywhere else tells their friends that they’ve been sexually assaulted and their friend on the other line says, ‘Are you pulling a Rolling Stone on me?’ ” Susan Svrluga in Washington contributed to this report. |
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| Quasimodo | Jan 15 2015, 08:32 AM Post #666 |
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But of course, they didn't suffer...and neither did their families... (sarc/off) |
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| abb | Jan 15 2015, 01:08 PM Post #667 |
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http://reason.com/blog/2015/01/15/uva-updates-2-frats-refuse-to-sign-sex-a UVA Updates: 2 Frats Refuse Sex and Alcohol Demands, Phi Psi Speaks Out, Rolling Stone Still in Denial It remains to be seen whether UVA will tolerate this defiance. Robby Soave|Jan. 15, 2015 12:40 pm There have been a few recent developments in the UVA situation. First, members of the University of Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi chapter went on the record to discuss how their fraternity was affected by the false accusations levelled against it in Sabrina Rubin Erdely's Rolling Stone story. Current and former Phi Psi brothers told The Washington Post that they were initially horrified to read Jackie's account as reported by Erdely. But after the story's publication, they quickly realized that the given date of the attack—September 28th, 2012—could not have been accurate. Rather than denounce the story publicly, they largely waited for the police to acquit them. Earlier this week, the authorities confirmed that Phi Psi was off the hook. Still, it's been a difficult couple of weeks for the brothers of Phi Psi. Other students threw bricks through their windows and spray-painted 'RAPISTS' on their front lawn. They even moved into hotel rooms to duck protesters. The brothers told The Post that no one should consider them the victims, however: [Phi Psi Brothers] Scipione and Fontenot said that the Phi Psi brothers experienced a difficult fall semester but said no one should consider the fraternity members as “victims.” “We don’t want to take away from the real victims, which are the victims of sexual assault,” Fontenot said. “We think it is incredibly unfair that the Rolling Stone article could in any way take away their credibility and the support they need.” UVA has revoked Phi Psi's suspension and invited all Greek organizations to resume campus activities—as long as they sign a new pact with the administration. This agreement obligates frats to only serve certain kinds of alcohol at parties and guard the stairs leading to the house bedrooms. Phi Psi readily agreed to the terms, but two other frats—Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha Order—have refused. Representatives for these groups say their own internal party rules are better than UVA's new dictates, and that it's wrong for the university to make demands that stem from a debunked allegation. According to the frats' identical statements: The University violated the previous [Fraternal Organization Agreement] as well as student individual and organizational rights. The system-wide suspension, which was initiated for reasons that were found to be untrue, unfairly punished all members of fraternities and sororities. It was maintained and used as leverage to require the changes to the FOA. Because we do not accept the validity of a suspension imposed in contravention of the existing FOA, university policy, Virginia law and the constitutional rights of our members, we are not compelled to sign a revised FOA to continue operations on campus. It remains to be seen whether UVA will tolerate this defiance. I remain skeptical that the administration's new requirements would improve safety at frat parties, and am troubled that the university believes it should, in effect, police students' sex lives by obligating frats to guard the bedrooms. Finally, Rolling Stone is still in denial about its role in creating this mess for UVA Greek life. Journalist Richard Bradley—who was the source in my initial report questioning Jackie's story—reports that Rolling Stone's latest issue contains a note from the publisher addressing "A Rape on Campus." Unfortunately, the note fails to admit what everyone already knows to be true—that the story is false and the product of an incomprehensible journalistic failure. Here's the note, according to Bradley: A Note to Our Readers In RS 1223, Sabrina Rubin Erdeley wrote about a brutal gang rape of a young woman named Jackie at a party in a University of Virginia frat house [“A Rape on Campus”]. Upon its publication, the article generated worldwide attention and praise for shining a light on the way the University of Virginia and many other colleges and universities across the nation have tried to sweep the issue of sexual assault on campus under the rug. Then, two weeks later, The Washington Post and other news outlets began to question Jackie’s account of the evening and the accuracy of Erdely’s reporting. Immediately, we posted a note on our website, disclosing the concerns. We have asked the Columbia Journalism School to conduct an independent review—headed by Dean Steve Coll and Dean of Academic Affairs Sheila Coronel—of the editorial process that led to the publication of this story. As soon as they are finished, we will publish their report. Jann S. Wenner Editor and Publisher That's just not nearly good enough. This note acts as if the verdict is still pending merely because Columbia hasn't finished its review yet. But The Post has done much more than "question" Jackie's account; the newspaper has definitively disproved the version of the account printed in Rolling Stone. The note also asserts that Rolling Stone disclosed its concerns "immediately" after skepticism surfaced in other news outlets. That's not exactly true. Bradley raised questions in a post on his blog on November 24th. I first reported some concerns (Bradley's among them) on December 1st. Rolling Stone's people kept defending the story up until December 5th. Bradley accuses Wenner of dishonesty in his note to readers: All of this matters, I think, because it helps get to the bottom of how this mess happened in the first place. As Michael Dukakis famously once said, “The fish rots from the head down.” If Jann Wenner can’t be honest about what happened even now, what does that suggest about the editorial culture he fosters at Rolling Stone? He’s the founder, the editor, the publisher. Ultimately, it’s on him. Indeed. More on the UVA debacle here. |
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| abb | Jan 15 2015, 01:09 PM Post #668 |
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2015-01-15/uva-applications-drop-in-wake-of-now-discredited-gang-rape-story UVA Applications Drop in Wake of Discredited Gang-Rape Story By Chris Staiti January 15, 2015 Applications to the University of Virginia dropped for the first time in 12 years as students made their decisions amid an uproar about a now-discredited story over a gang rape on campus. The number of applicants for the class of 2019 fell 0.7 percent to 31,107, the Charlottesville-based school said in a statement. It was the first decline since 2002. UVA was thrown into turmoil by a Nov. 19 Rolling Stone article that purported to detail the brutal gang rape of a woman named “Jackie” by seven members of a campus fraternity. The magazine apologized for the story on Dec. 5, citing “discrepancies” in the account. In the article’s aftermath, UVA instituted improved safety measures to combat sexual violence and suspended social activities of fraternities. It didn’t question the veracity of the story until Dec. 19, when the head of its governing board said the school had been struck by “drive-by journalism.” The deadline for regular applications was Jan 1. Early applications to UVA increased 7.5 percent to 16,187. The deadline for the submissions was Nov. 1, well before the Rolling Stone article was published. “There is no supporting data at this time to indicate the possible reasons for the slight decrease in overall applications,” Anthony de Bruyn, a university spokesman, said in an e-mail. UVA lifted the suspension on Greek houses last week and cleared Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity named in the story, three days ago after a police investigation found “no basis” to believe an assault had taken place there. Sexual Assault Concern about sexual assault is affecting students’ choices about where they apply, Bloomberg News reported in December. Almost a third of college admissions officers said they had been getting more questions from high school students and their parents than they did two years ago, according to a survey by Kaplan Test Prep. Applications at Dartmouth College plunged 14 percent last year amid a high-profile investigation of an alleged rape in a dormitory. The accused student was later acquitted, and Dartmouth’s applications rose 6 percent this year. UVA said it expects to enroll 3,675 students in the freshman class. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Staiti in Boston at cstaiti@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Hechinger at jhechinger@bloomberg.net Bruce Rule |
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| MikeZPU | Jan 15 2015, 06:55 PM Post #669 |
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If the university is going to impose new conditions for reinstating the frats, after the UVA gang rape story was soundly discredited, it should go both ways! A new LOA should include conditions the UVA president and administration should abide by when scandalous headlines are published: not to rush to judgment!!! |
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| abb | Jan 16 2015, 05:20 AM Post #670 |
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http://www.cotwa.info/2015/01/uva-president-teresa-sullivan-captain.html Thursday, January 15, 2015 UVA President Teresa Sullivan: the Captain Queeg of higher education, still looking for those missing strawberries UVA’s President Sullivan reminds me of Captain Queeg from “The Caine Mutiny.” She's obviously not insane like Captain Queeg -- her irrational behavior is motivated by fealty to political correctness run amok and kowtowing to gender zealots. There is no reliable evidence for the supposed gang rape at a UVA fraternity as reported by Rolling Stone – none whatsoever – and the school’s president Teresa A. Sullivan knows that. Yet Sullivan plowed ahead with a ban on fraternity activities while an investigation into fraternities, prompted by the crime that never happened, continued. And now the fraternities are being punished as a direct result of the same imaginary crime. See here. Sullivan is the Captain Queeg of academia. In “The Caine Mutiny,” the Caine was a battle-scarred minesweeper in World War II. Its captain was Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg, played by Humphrey Bogart, a strict disciplinarian with a nervous habit of clicking a pair of steel ball bearings in his hand. One day, the Caine receives a gift of a gallon of frozen strawberries, which the Caine's officers share for dessert at dinner that night. A few hours later -- at one o’clock in the morning -- the captain calls an emergency meeting of all the officers because he's looking for an explanation about why there are no leftover strawberries from dinner. He claims that a quart went missing. He orders the officers to launch an investigation in the middle of the night. The captain’s overreaction shocks the ship’s officers, but they proceed to investigate, to no avail. The next morning, Captain Queeg tells the officers that he’s got the whole missing strawberries incident figured out: with no evidence beyond his wild surmise, he announces: “Someone made a duplicate key to the icebox.” He’s even figured out how to nab the culprit: “I've got a simple plan. We tag every key on board with the owner's name. Then we strip all hands to make sure we have all the keys. Then we test each key on the icebox padlock.” Before the captain’s insane plan can be implemented, one of the officers confides in the other officers that he knows what happened to the strawberries – he saw the “mess boys” eat them -- and that he told Captain Queeg, but Queeg ordered him to keep his mouth shut or he’d be punished. Those who've seen the movie know the rest: the ship's second in command eventually relieves Queeg of his duties due to his mental instability. And there is mental instability of a different kind at UVA with its overreaction to a rape that never occurred. Tell me, President Sullivan: did you ever find those missing strawberries? |
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| abb | Jan 16 2015, 10:47 AM Post #671 |
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http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2015/01/proposed-bill-to-require-campus-police-to-report-sexual-assault-to-commonwealth-attorney Proposed bill to require campus police to report sexual assault to commonwealth attorney Democrats, republicans support bill by Ella Shoup and Sara Rourke | Jan 16 2015 | 9 hours ago “My hope is that as these bills go forward there is discussion and consideration of how these things will play out,” Weybright said. “The law enforcement can definitely work to support survivors and I think there needs to be a comprehensive look at how this could impact the whole system.” Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, proposed House Bill 1343 Dec. 1 which, if passed, would require university campus police or local law enforcement to report sexual assault cases to their local commonwealth attorneys within 48 hours of notice of the incident. The delegate’s office said the primary purpose of the bill is to involve more parties in the sexual assault reporting process in hopes of creating more transparency within the process. The commonwealth attorney would oversee the subsequent investigation. Filler-Corn held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the bill. “Sexual assault — whether its between strangers, people dating, on private property or on school campuses — requires a serious response from the police and the prosecutors,” Filler-Corn said. “I think what this bill does is provide victims the opportunity to have confidential conversations with adults and move forward.” Filler-Corn said the bill has received support from sexual assault victims, law enforcement, several commonwealth attorneys and advocacy groups. The families of past sexual assault victims Morgan Harrington and Alexis Murphy were also present at the the press conference Tuesday in support of the bill. “This legislation is geared toward restoring victim’s faith in the system,” Filler-Corn said. “By getting the commonwealth attorney involved, we can ensure the investigation is promptly pursued, and the victims are given the resources they need.” Rebecca Weybright, executive director of the Charlottesville Sexual Assault Resource Agency, said the bill may negatively impact sexual assault victims. “It might do nothing, because the commonwealth attorney might not be interested in prosecuting,” Weybright said. “But if they are interested in prosecuting, it might take the control of that away from the survivor and into the hands of the attorney.” Weybright said she would caution legislators to be mindful of the well-being of the survivors involved in these cases. “I come very strongly from a victim or survivor advocate point of view,” Weybright said, “So what I would want to make sure [is] that any legislative action is potentially better for the survivor in that situation.” Weybright suggested including an educational element in the bill to help safeguard against any further trauma for the sexual assault victim. She suggested such a program for commonwealth attorneys to ensure they are prepared for involvement in such cases. “What I would want overall is to make sure that these bills might provide education for the criminal justice system to ensure that they are equipped to handle these situations,” Weybright said. “I don’t want to see survivors retraumatized or revictimized.” Weybright said she is particularly concerned that the bill may dissuade victims from reporting sexual assault to both campus police members and university faculty out of fear their case will be prosecuted. “That’s why I think that it’s important that there’s education provided,” Weybright said. “I don’t want survivors to feel like they can’t tell campus personnel or the police.” Despite her concerns, Weybright said law enforcement could play a valuable role in the sexual assault reporting process. “My hope is that as these bills go forward, there is discussion and consideration of how these things will play out,” Weybright said. “The law enforcement can definitely work to support survivors and I think there needs to be a comprehensive look at how this could impact the whole system.” Filler-Corn said the bill is garnering bipartisan support, most notably from Del. David Albo, R-Springfield, chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee and now co-patron of the bill. “When it comes to solving serious problems for Virginia citizens, delegate Eileen Filler-Corn — a Democrat, and I, a Republican — don't care about politics or party affiliation,” Albo said. Albo said regardless of the circumstances and situation, sexual assault is a pressing issue that the state must confront. “Delegate Filler-Corn's bill ensures that allegations of sexual assaults on college campuses will receive the same level of attention by police and prosecutors that off campus sexual assaults receive,” he said. Filler-Corn is confident the bill will pass due to the new heightened level of awareness surrounding sexual assault. She had previously tried passing a similar bill in 2012 but was unsuccessful. “[The] timing of this bill is right,” Filler-Corn said. “We shouldn’t be afraid to share information. We all want the same thing.” |
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| Payback | Jan 16 2015, 12:01 PM Post #672 |
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And should require the resignation of Teresa Sullivan. |
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| MikeZPU | Jan 16 2015, 03:08 PM Post #673 |
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and an admission from President Sullivan that she is not smarter than a fifth grader, and that anatomically she is missing a spine. |
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| Foxlair45 | Jan 16 2015, 06:05 PM Post #674 |
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Weybright said she is particularly concerned that the bill may dissuade victims from reporting sexual assault to both campus police members and university faculty out of fear their case will be prosecuted. You would not want the cases to be prosecuted why? |
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| MikeZPU | Jan 16 2015, 08:00 PM Post #675 |
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Because then you have to abide by the rules of law (ideally )whereas in a university kangaroo hearing, you can do whatever the hell you want to get someone kicked out of school. |
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