CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – An expose that was published last week describing a freshman female’s alleged 2012 gang rape at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party has prompted the University of Virginia (UVA) to suspend all fraternity and sorority activities.
The Rolling Stone article describes how a first-year UVA student was sexually assaulted by seven men at a party. It also criticizes the school’s response after the victim reported the crime.
“The wrongs described in Rolling Stone are appalling and have caused all of us to reexamine our responsibility to this community,” said UVA President Teresa Sullivan in a statement released Saturday. “Rape is an abhorrent crime that has no place in the world, let alone on the campuses and grounds of our nation’s colleges and universities.”
As a result, all Greek life at UVA has been suspended until Jan. 9, 2015.
On Friday, Sullivan asked local police to investigate the victim’s claims. She also asked witnesses to the 2012 incident to talk to law enforcement.
“There are individuals in our community who know what happened that night, and I am calling on them to come forward to the police to report the facts,” she said in a statement. “Only you can shed light on the truth, and it is your responsibility to do so.”
Sullivan also pledged to evaluate UVA’s culture and review its policies and procedures involving sexual violence.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, by Terren
