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Fraternities and Sororities Lobby to Move Campus Sexual Assault Investigation from Campus Authorities to Criminal Investigators

10/14/2015

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PictureThe Safe Campus Act, a bill in Congress presently, tries to re-balance the scales of justice for those wrongfully accused. It also tries to keep law enforcement at the forefront of criminal investigations.
National fraternity and sorority groups have hired former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to lobby for legislation that would prevent colleges from punishing certain students accused of sexual assault.  Lott is among a group of lobbyists who have collected $140,000 from the "Safe Campus Coalition" so far this year, according to congressional disclosure filings. The coalition is made up of the National Panhellenic Conference, North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), Kappa Alpha Order, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the Sigma Nu fraternity.

​The full text of the Safe Campus Act can be found by clicking here.

The lobbyists are helping the groups push for the Safe Campus Act, which would restrict colleges from punishing students for sexual assault unless the police are also involved. Other illegal behaviors -- such as theft or physical assault -- would not be held to this requirement. The proposal is uniformly opposed by advocacy and activist groups that work with rape victims. The filings indicate that Lott, now a counsel at the Squire Patton Boggs firm, registered to lobby with the Safe Campus Coalition on April 24. The Safe Campus Coalition has also hired Lott's colleague Kevin O’Neill, an attorney at Squire Patton Boggs and executive director of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee. 

Lott retired in 2007 as the Senate minority whip, and previously spent several years as the chamber's majority leader. He is a Sigma Nu alum. As a lobbyist, Lott has done work forGazprombank, a Russian bank that was hit with sanctions by the Obama administration, along with Goldman Sachs, Shell oil company and others. Earlier this month, Lott penned an editorial with Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who served as an adviser to Chi Omega, arguing in favor of the Safe Campus Act. 

The legislation is sponsored by Reps. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas). "Ensuring equal justice under law for rape victims is a priority of Congressman Salmon's and he serves as member of the Higher Education subcommittee which oversees these issues," said Tristan Daedalus, a spokesman for Salmon. "He's grateful for the comments and suggestions received from many individuals and groups that have an interest in solving this important issue." Sessions' office said the congressman has "for years worked with stakeholders both inside and outside of the Greek community to improve campus safety for all college students," and the Safe Campus Act reflects that.  The Texas lawmaker is a regular recipient of campaign contributions from the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee, according to campaign finance disclosures. NIC, NPC and the heads of Sigma Nu, Kappa Alpha Order and Alpha Tau Omega did not respond to requests for comment.

Matt Gregory, associate dean of students at Louisiana State University and a former policeman, said it was "short-sighted" to require alleged victims to report to police before schools can take action. "We on campuses have obligations -- not three months from now, not tomorrow, the minute we hear about a report," Gregory said. "That's what keeps me up at night." Jason Casares, director of student ethics at Indiana University and president-elect of the Association for Student Conduct Administration, said the bill would prevent students from reporting to their universities. "I always ask students about an option to report to the police, and many respond that 'If I had to report to police, if I knew it was a requirement, I would not be here,'" Casares said. 

Along with the requirement to notify police before schools can investigate sexual assaults, the bill would allow schools to use whatever standard of evidence they choose in campus adjudications. Currently, when a college holds a hearing to determine if a student accused of sexual assault violated the code of conduct, it's obligated by the U.S. Department of Education to use the "preponderance of evidence" standard. Under this standard, an adjudicator must be 51 percent or more certain the accused is guilty, making it more likely that the student will be found in violation.

In a February phone call, fraternity leaders expressed a desire to strengthen the preponderance of evidence standard. NIC Chairman Buddy Cote suggested the standard should be raised to "beyond a reasonable doubt," or 99 percent certainty, the same level as criminal trials. National fraternity groups planned in the spring to lobby Congress to block colleges from investigating sexual assault cases until a criminal trial was completed. The proposal was denounced by fraternity and sorority members, lawmakers and advocacy groups. Following the backlash, the groups said a week before their lobbyists filed paperwork in April that they would not be lobbying "for or against any specific" congressional proposals.

On July 29, the Safe Campus Act was introduced. NIC and NPC promptly rolled out materialsin favor of the legislation. Fraternity groups boasted that the legislation would address concerns from university professionals groups, and the National District Attorneys Association has said it supports the bill. However, several prominent higher education organizations distanced themselves from the Safe Campus Act immediately after it was introduced. The VTV Family Outreach Foundation, a campus safety group started by the families of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, decided in late September to formally oppose the bill.  The group had previously said it hoped to work with Salmon's office to rework the legislation, and maintains that it is interested in doing that. But VTV Foundation said it's now officially opposed to the "compulsory process outlined in the bill," and is worried about the proposal to allow schools to change the standard of proof in campus adjudications.

"We also recognize [Salmon's] goal of ensuring that there is due process for the accused, but as introduced the Safe Campus Act would allow institutions to set any standard of proof, whether it be very high or low," said S. Daniel Carter, director of VTV Foundation's 32 National Campus Safety Initiative. "The preponderance of the evidence standard affords significant protections while not making it more difficult than necessary to provide justice on campus." (reprinted for education purposes from the Huffington Post; byline: Tyler Kingkade, Senior Editor/Reporter)

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Rolling Stone Scandal: Editor Resigns Over False Fraternity Rape Story

7/31/2015

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The editor who oversaw Rolling Stone magazine’s erroneous story about a fraternity gang rape at the University of Virginia will leave the magazine, more than eight months after the story was published.

Will Dana, Rolling Stone’s managing editor, will step down next month after nearly two decades at the magazine. His departure comes amid a series of defamation lawsuits against the magazine as a result of its publication in November of “A Rape on Campus,” which described an alleged gang rape that authorities determined never occurred.

The U-Va. story at first received great praise for its searing revelations, but as it quickly unraveled, it garnered widespread condemnation.

Dana had only limited involvement in the development and editing of reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s nearly 10,000-word story. But he apologized for it on Rolling Stone’s Web site after major elements of it could not be corroborated.

“A Rape on Campus” attracted worldwide attention with its shocking description of the repeated sexual assault of a U-Va. undergraduate identified in the story only as Jackie. The story said she was invited to a party at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on campus in 2012 and then lured to an upstairs room, where seven fraternity brothers took turns raping her. It said school officials and Jackie’s friends were indifferent to Jackie’s plight when she reported the crime to them, using her narrative to enforce the theme that U-Va. fosters a culture of rape.

Follow-up reporting by The Washington Post and other news outlets subsequently found that virtually every major detail in the story was inaccurate. A subsequent investigation by officials at Columbia University’s journalism school found numerous flaws in the reporting, editing and fact-checking of the article. Police in Charlottesville also said they found no evidence of a crime.

Upon publication of the Columbia investigation, Dana wrote: “This report was painful reading, to me personally and to all of us at Rolling Stone. ... With its publication, we are officially retracting ‘A Rape on Campus.’... We would like to apologize to our readers and to all of those who were damaged by our story and the ensuing fallout, including members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and UVA administrators and students.”

The Columbia report was commissioned by Rolling Stone’s co-founder and editor, Jann Wenner. He declined to discipline any members of his staff in the wake of its release in April. (excerpted from the Washington Post for educational purposes; byline Paul Fahri)

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Fraternity & Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC) applauds introduction of The SAFE CAMPUS Act

7/29/2015

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(WASHINGTON, July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire) -- The SAFE CAMPUS Act, sponsored by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), introduces meaningful and much needed reforms to the current system of investigating and adjudicating sexual assault allegations on our nation's college campuses.

"Fraternity and sorority members have been leaders in seeking solutions to the most important issues facing students. Campus safety and preserving a student's constitutional rights on campus are among our top priorities," said FSPAC's Executive Director Kevin O'Neill. "The SAFE CAMPUS Act includes numerous provisions that emphasize improvements in campus safety and engage law enforcement to bring more perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. It enhances the rights of all students in the campus adjudication system and reaffirms the importance of a student's right to be involved with a single-sex campus organization."

The SAFE CAMPUS Act provides rights and protections for everyone on campus. The bill reforms the campus adjudication process to provide all students with due process, increasing transparency and trust in the system. Under SAFE CAMPUS, students affected will have full knowledge of the status of their cases, the charges and evidence, and why decisions were made. The SAFE CAMPUS Act requires that students have access to counsel, are able to cross-examine witnesses, and know the evidence and testimony that is brought against them. It extends due process to student groups on campus so that entire organizations cannot be suspended without cause.

The SAFE CAMPUS Act gives law enforcement an exclusive period of primary jurisdiction to investigate crimes of sexual violence on campus before the school's disciplinary process begins. This will result in a greater likelihood that law enforcement can bring to justice those who commit crimes of physical violence against students and will ultimately help reduce the rate of sexual violence on campus.

The bill arms schools with powerful new interim measures to protect students and ensure those affected by sexual assault can stay in school. It provides students with more education to prevent sexual assault. It also offers safe harbors for students to report sexual assaults without fear of being punished for other violations of school policy.

SAFE CAMPUS also restates the historic exemption of single-sex organizations under Title IX. "Single-sex organizations are one of the great success stories of Title IX," said FSPAC's President Vickie Nixon, "Sororities are the largest women's leadership organizations on college campuses today because of Title IX, and we must resist efforts by those who seek to undermine the obvious value of single-sex organizations on campus."

"Over the past several years, it has become increasingly clear that there is an urgent need to improve the current process of handling sexual assaults on campuses," said FSPAC Executive Director Kevin O'Neill. "We strongly believe that the SAFE CAMPUS Act proposes sound and effective solutions to address the current system's flaws. It ensures that each student and student organization involved in a sexual assault case is treated fairly."

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Greek Councils, Administrators Clash on Fraternity Discipline

6/23/2015

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PictureEmbattled Greeks: Fraternities battle against school administrators the matter of discipline vs. self-discipline.
(June 23, 2015) In May, Pennsylvania State University banned its chapter of Kappa Delta Rho -- the fraternity that maintained a private Facebook page that featured photographs of nude and partially nude unconscious women -- from campus for three years. The decision, which was made after an investigation into the Facebook page also revealed incidents of sexual harassment and hazing within the chapter, overturned an earlier ruling by the university’s Interfraternity Council. The council had recommended that the chapter keep its recognition but undergo education and training about sexual assault and bystander intervention.

It was a rare move for the university, which typically defers to the all-male council to determine disciplinary action for Penn State fraternities. That means a panel of fraternity members potentially decides on the guilt or innocence and punishment of a fraternity -- in this case one accused not only of degrading women generally but of violating the privacy of and harassing specific women. “The university’s educational purposes and its responsibilities compel a stronger response than you have recommended,” Damon Sims, the university’s vice president for student affairs, wrote in a letter to the IFC. “Our commitment to student involvement in institutional decision making remains important to us, and our action in this case should not be seen as a retreat from the commitment.”

At most colleges, the punishment of wayward fraternity chapters is not often left to campus administrators, but to a panel of the fraternity members’ peers. Administrators reserve the power to reverse those decisions or ban a chapter, but that process isn't always a simple one. And, as seen at Penn State, an IFC's idea of how to appropriately punish a chapter can vastly differ from that of the university. In cases that involve sexual harassment against women, student affairs professionals and women's advocates question whether all-male panels comprised of fellow fraternity members should be the ones making those decisions. “No matter what path schools have for dealing with different student organizations, they have a responsibility to deal with this type of harassment,” said Anne Hedgepeth, government relations manager at the American Association of University Women. “Colleges are on the hook for ending hostile environments, and hearing from diverse voices in those matters is important.”

Fraternities at Penn State are private associations that are located on private property. They are governed by an interfraternity council that is associated with but independent from the university. Many colleges use a similar system: fraternities are sanctioned by the judicial boards of interfraternity councils, which fall under the umbrella of a trade association called the North-American Interfraternity Conference. Less commonly, the chapters may have their cases decided by Greek standards boards, which are similarly comprised of fraternity members but may also include sorority members. Most disciplinary decisions are made by these councils and their judicial boards. Institutions do have the power to ban a chapter from campus by de-recognizing it as a student organization. Penn State has reversed its IFC’s recommendations in the past and banned chapters from campus, Sims said, making the university’s decision last month uncommon but not unheard of. "We reserve the right to intervene whenever a governing council reaches a conclusion with which we do not agree, which was the case with the recent Kappa Delta Rho matter," Sims said this week. "Since the administration typically, though not always, has agreed with the judgment of the respective governing councils, there rarely has been reason to overturn the initial judgment of the student governing group. But we always retain the right to do so."

The case had garnered national attention, and the university promised a full investigation into the Facebook page when it came to light in March. The page, originally called “Covert Business Transactions,” had 144 active members, including both current students and alumni of the fraternity. Only one of them reported the page to Penn State and the police. The university's investigation found that in addition to posting the photographs of unconscious women in “compromising positions,” the chapter had persistently harassed two female students. In addition, members sold and used illegal drugs, the university said. The investigation revealed several instances of hazing, including forcing pledges to box one another. Pledges were also forced to hold the plank position -- an exercise where a person’s body weight is supported by their forearms -- with bottle caps digging into their elbows. “The sum of organizational misbehaviors is far more than the university can tolerate from a student organization that seeks its imprimatur,” Sims said in his letter overruling the IFC's recommendation.

Laura Dunn, executive director of SurvJustice, praised Penn State for overturning the IFC ruling and banning the fraternity, but said the fact that all-male panels are given the opportunity to make disciplinary decisions about cases that include female victims is inherently unfair. “I think the whole concept is absolutely wrong and is quickly becoming outdated,” Dunn said. “Councils can be part of this process, but any school that allows fraternities to discipline themselves in these situations is not really fulfilling their obligations to female students.” Allowing that sort of self-governance, Dunn said, could even mean colleges are not in compliance with the gender discrimination law Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which requires universities to quickly investigate and adjudicate cases of sexual harassment and gender violence. Sims said that an upcoming task force at Penn State will evaluate "whether the current arrangement should be sustained, or whether [the university] should instead segregate the management of sexual misconduct cases from other disciplinary issues managed by" Greek organizations.

Pete Smithhisler, president of the North-American Interfraternity Conference, said “peer-to-peer student accountability” is an important part of fraternity life, but that interfraternity councils and college administrators should work together when deciding how best to sanction a chapter. “Self-governance is a very good life lesson,” Smithhisler said. “We often have to learn to hold our peers accountable, and so these are skills the members learn that can be used outside of the fraternity later in life. Our thoughts related to IFCs are that they need to be promoting the fraternity experience in their own environments, holding members accountable to internal codes and working with institutions to honor student conduct codes. Working hand in hand with the college is ideal.”

At Penn State, the IFC and the national office of Kappa Delta Rho said it respected the decision made by the student affairs office to supersede the IFC’s ruling. Even so, the difference between the university's decision and the council's initial ruling is striking -- and attempts to reconcile similar differences of opinion haven't gone so well on other campuses. In March, tensions over fraternity self-governance at the University of Idaho led the Dean of Students there to resign. He announced his resignation after sanctions against the Idaho chapter of Phi Gamma Delta over hazing allegations were dropped. A month earlier, the dean's office had found the fraternity to be in violation of the university’s hazing polices. The fraternity quickly agreed to accept the sanctions proposed by the office. As part of the agreement, freshman members were no longer allowed to live in the house and the chapter was put on probation for three years. At the University of Idaho, Greek organizations accused of violating university rules have the choice of having their case heard by a Greek Community Standards Board, which includes both fraternity and sorority members, or simply having the dean of students decide the sanctions. Phi Gamma Delta originally agreed to the latter, but -- after hearing from alumni and a lawyer -- the fraternity changed its mind and asked instead for the case to be heard by the standards board.

The university allowed the chapter’s request, sending the case to the board and reversing the dean’s sanctions. “I no longer believe this is an environment where I can work on issues of student safety,” Craig Chatriand, the dean of students, said at the time. “The safety of our students is the primary concern of the dean of students’ office, and not being able to address concerns through our already established policies and agreements takes away the effectiveness of what this office can do.” The university would not say what activities the hazing had allegedly included, but the local police department also launched its own investigation into the chapter over allegations of sleep deprivation. No charges were filed. One university official, who asked to remain anonymous, said allegations as serious as hazing should not be handled by the board, but that there is no rule against it. Three months after Chatriand resigned, new sanctions have yet to be announced and the chapter remains unpunished. Stefany Bales, a spokeswoman for the University of Idaho, said the board's recommendations will not be announced until at least August.

Kevin Kruger, president of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, said while self-governance is a long-held aspect of fraternity life, college administrators should have final say in how a chapter is punished. In many cases, however, institutional policies and agreements with fraternities mean that pulling a fraternity’s recognition as a student organization, as Penn State did, is one of the few organizational punishments at an institution’s disposal. When colleges wish to ban alcohol from fraternity gatherings or to suspend such parties completely (something they've donewith some regularity in the last year), they usually turn to interfraternity councils to make those decisions, as well. “An institution doesn't have a whole lot of tools available for taking action against student organizations, outside of probation or suspension,” Kruger said. “An IFC can do more intermediate efforts to hold the fraternity accountable, allowing them to police themselves in cases such as alcohol violations. For more major cases like sexual harassment or hazing, I don't think the institution would want to allow that sort of self-policing.” (excerpted for educational purposes from the Inside Higher Ed website; byline: Jake New)

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Biased Reporting Fails to Mention that 98.4% of Fraternity and Sorority Chapter Do Things Right!

6/12/2015

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PictureLittle does this newsboy know that Bloomberg Business is peddling biased news!
Bloomberg Business recently reported that in the past spring semester, 133 fraternity or sorority chapters [2.6% of all Greek Organizations] at 55 U.S. colleges [2.4% of all colleges in the U.S.] were shut down, suspended or otherwise punished for various infractions. 

While the article, published on June 4, 2015, provided an interesting graphic and timeline, what it failed to put in perspective is that there are more than 8,500 fraternity and sorority chapters on American college campuses . No doubt some of the misconduct was serious, but the overwhelming majority [98.4%] of fraternities and sororities chapters do things right. Unfortunately, they get overlooked. (excerpted from Fraternal Law Newsletter for educational purposes)

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Saginaw Valley State U. Hazing Case Finds Four Fraternity Fellows Facing Felony Charges taking Plea Deal

6/1/2015

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PictureSaginaw State Omega Psi Phi men accept plea deal to avoid felony charges in this hazing matter.
(SAGINAW, MI — May 12, 2015) Four Saginaw Valley State University students who faced felony assault charges for a fraternity hazing incident have accepted plea agreements. Tevon L. Conrad, Laurence D. Dunn, Trevor D. Hoskins, and Maurice D. Polk Jr. on Tuesday, May 12, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors. The students, members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, appeared before Saginaw County District Judge M. Randall Jurrens and pleaded to aggravated assault and conspiring to commit hazing causing physical injury. Both crimes carry maximum penalties of one year in jail.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors will drop felony charges of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder and conspiring to commit that crime, both of which carry maximum penalties of 10 years in prison. Prosecutors also will drop a misdemeanor charge of hazing causing physical injury. Prosecutors will recommend that Jurrens hand down one-year "delayed sentences" for the defendants. In such a scenario, the defendants would receive one-year probation terms. If they successfully complete those, prosecutors would drop the charges altogether. "We didn't feel that what happened necessarily should have ended up with all these guys getting felonies," said Prosecutor John McColgan Jr. "They can prove what they're made of, and if they're not on the up and up, they'll be doing jail time." 


Jurrens in December presided over a preliminary hearing for the four men. The judge in February ruled probable cause existed for the four men to stand trial on the felony charges. The four men were scheduled for trial Tuesday before Circuit Judge Robert L. Kaczmarek, but once they accepted the plea deals, court officials remanded their cases to Jurrens. A no contest plea means the defendants do not contest that prosecutors' evidence would convict them. It is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes. In binding the defendants over for trial in February, Jurrens wrote there was probable cause to suggest the student did not consent to the level of injuries he suffered.

Jurrens wrote that the victim testified a majority of two-hour meetings held at the Hiawatha address consisted of one or more of the defendants "striking each pledge in succession with open hands about the torso and/or a ... wooden "paddle" on the buttocks." The paddle, the judge wrote, was 6 inches by 6 inches by 12 to 18 inches. The defendants assigned the victim to the end of the line, apparently because he was the tallest pledge, and "routinely awarded him a 'double portion of each beating,'" Jurrens wrote. While he continued to pledge the fraternity, the victim "concluded that at least one of the defendants (defendant Hoskins in particular) intended great bodily harm," Jurrens wrote. The victim on Oct. 30 had an "odd" feeling in his leg upon exiting a car with two other pledges and passed out, Jurrens wrote. Later, he woke up in another pledge's dorm room to find somebody changing his clothes, the judge wrote. After again losing consciousness, the victim woke up in the hospital "disoriented, not recognizing his mother or sister, with his speech impaired, and barely able to walk," Jurrens wrote.

After learning of the allegations, which SVSU's University Police began investigating Nov. 4, SVSU officials indefinitely suspended the school's Omega Psi Phi chapter pending the results of a school investigation. Following the investigation, school officials continued the suspension and notified the fraternity's national office. The fraternity must apply for reinstatement and receive approval from SVSU and the fraternity's national office before resuming any campus activities, Boehm said. All four men remain free -- Hoskins on a $10,000 bond and the other three on $10,000 personal recognizance bonds. Their sentencing dates were pending. (excerpted from Michigan Live for educational purposes; byline: Andy Hoag) 

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California Sorority Surprises Housekeeper With $21,000 for New Car

5/4/2015

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PictureGamma Phi Beta surprises Fannie Randle
Fannie Randle got the surprise of her life two weeks ago when "her girls" at the University of Southern California's Gamma Phi Beta sorority, where has been housekeeper for decades, presented her with a $21,000 check to put towards a brand new car. "I almost passed out," said Randle, 65, with a laugh. "I never in my wildest dreams thought I had so many good friends. I think it's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't thank those kids enough. "I walk in and their smiling face brighten up my whole day. They're just so wonderful." Randle has been keeping house for the sorority for 24 years.

In less than one week, the sisters raised $21,000 for their beloved housekeeper. They presented the gift on April 20 at Gamma Phi Beta's Staff and Alumni Appreciation Dinner. "Her reaction was priceless," said Gamma Phi Beta's former president, Alicia Jewell, 21. "She was so excited, jumping up and down and screaming, 'Yes!' She said she needed to sit down before she fell over. "She came up to me the next day and said, 'You're the best friend I've ever had," Jewell added.

Jewell told ABC News that although Randle had been saving money to buy a new car for some time, the sorority wanted to help move the process along. "I've always seen her car and I had talked to her about it," she said. "The hardest thing for her was coming down with the down payment, and I had been thinking for a while that we should do something nice for her."

From there, Jewell organized a GoFundMe page to cover the cost of Randle's car. "Fannie has been driving the same little, red, bucket car, as she would call it, since I met her my sophomore year," Jewell said. "The whole side was held together with duct tape. And Fannie just works so hard, I didn't want her to have to worry about something like that. That's why I wanted to make a difference for her."

"Fannie would do anything for us," Jewell added. "She's hardworking, she's loving, she's supportive. You can talk to her literally about everything, and its wonderful for us college students who are away from home. "The best thing about her is her energy," Jewell said. "She's so happy and infectious and it's a great start to our morning every day."


Beth Saul, USC's director of fraternity and sorority leadership development, said in a statement to ABC News that her office "is delighted with the outpouring of compassion and generosity in raising these funds for Fannie, Gamma Phi Beta’s loyal and beloved house keeper for over two decades. ... This is one extraordinary example of how USC sororities and fraternities give their time and heart to enrich our community.”

Randle said she is forever grateful to the girls for giving her a moment that she'll never forget. She hopes to be driving either a new blue Honda or Kia within the next few weeks. (excerpted from ABC News for education purposes; byline: Nicole Pelletiere)

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Fraternity to Sue Rolling Stone Magazine for Publishing False Story; Charges "Reckless Reporting"; Independent Review Slams Magazine

4/11/2015

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The fraternity spotlighted in a discredited Rolling Stone article describing an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia will take legal action against the magazine. "After 130 days of living under a cloud of suspicion as a result of reckless reporting by Rolling Stone magazine, today the Virginia Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi announced plans to pursue all available legal action against the magazine," the fraternity said in a statement released Monday.

The statement from the fraternity outlines how the Rolling Stone story, viewed by millions, has affected members of Phi Kappa Psi at U.Va..\ Fraternity members were "ostracized," the fraternity house was vandalized, and national media cast the fraternity as "the iconic symbol of this troubling issue" of sexual assault, the statement says. "Clearly our fraternity and its members have been defamed, but more importantly we fear this entire episode may prompt some victims to remain in the shadows, fearful to confront their attackers," the Virginia Phi Kappa Psi chapter's president, Stephen Scipione, said in the statement. "If Rolling Stone wants to play a real role in addressing this problem, it's time to get serious."

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism on Sunday night released a report on the story blasting Rolling Stone for rampant failures in reporting and editing the story, "A Rape on Campus." The magazine sought the independent examination after details of the gripping article, published in November, failed to hold up under media scrutiny. Eventually, local police also failed to find any evidence supporting the claims made by a student identified as "Jackie."

The magazine issued an apology in December. Author Sabrina Rubin Erdely, who defended her reporting when the controversy first blew up, now also has apologized.

"The report by Columbia University's School of Journalism demonstrates the reckless nature in which Rolling Stone researched and failed to verify facts in its article that erroneously accused Phi Kappa Psi of crimes its members did not commit," Scipione said in the statement. "This type of reporting serves as a sad example of a serious decline of journalistic standards." (Excerpted from USA Today for educational purposes; byline: John Bacon and Emma Hinchliffe)
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Rutgers Main Campus: No More Parties at Fraternity Houses

4/11/2015

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(NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J) Rutgers University has banned house parties at fraternities and sororities for the rest of the spring semester after several alcohol-related problems this school year. That includes the death of 19-year-old Caitlyn Kovacs of Monmouth Junction. She died of alcohol poisoning after a party in September. The probation was decided last week but announced by the university Monday.

"Rutgers takes seriously its commitment to maintaining a healthy and safe campus environment," the university said in a statement. Greek organizations will still be able to hold spring formals and other events off campus where a third-party vendor may serve alcohol. "It's going to change the last few weeks of school, but it's nothing. If anything it helps us focus more on the real reason why we are here, which is to work toward our philanthropy and grow as a sisterhood," said Allie Sayde.

"I see where the administration's coming from, but I just don't think it's fair to a lot of the other Greek organizations that do a lot of good for the community," said student Connor Gibbons. (Excerpted from WPVI for educational purposes;
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Fraternity houses at Rutgers University, like this one pictured here, will no longer be able to have parties under a new school policy.
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Chi Phi Removed from Wisconsin Campus in Hazing Row

3/19/2015

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PictureChi Phi House at UW-Madison
(Madison, Wisconsin - March 18, 2015) Reports of periods of “hooded isolation,” forced binged drinking and food deprivation led the University of Wisconsin-Madison to “terminate” a fraternity from campus Wednesday.The Chi Phi fraternity chapter was removed from campus after an initial complaint in January over hazing new members during an initiation weekend in December that left one student with a concussion.

An investigation found that chapter leaders fostered a dangerous hazing environment and participated in acts that “seriously threatened the health and safety of all the new members,” according to a university statement. Fraternity members violated a school provision against “humiliating, degrading and sexualized conduct.”

In a prepared statement, a student president of an interfraternity council said it supported the termination action. “The circumstances involving Chi Phi fraternity are unjustifiable and inappropriate. Hazing is strictly prohibited at all times by any persons affiliated with or under the jurisdiction of the Interfraternity Council at UW-Madison,” said Conner Feldman, executive president of the council. (Excerpted from USA Today for educational purposes; byline: Nick Penzenstadler)





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