Univ. of Central Arkansas: Sexual Assault at Sig Ep

AR Zeta (University of Central Arkansas) is dealing with an accusation that a "voyeuristic video" was made and distributed to others.

Cops: Sexual Assault at Sig Ep | The Fountain:

by JORDAN KING • MARCH 11, 2013 

The Sigma Phi Epsilon house on Donaghey Avenue

UCA police are investigating allegations of sexual assault and video voyeurism at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house involving a member of the fraternity and a member of the Delta Zeta sorority.

Jacob Robinson, president of the campus chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilson, said the fraternity has already responded to the allegations.

“We are aware of the situation involving members of our chapter,” Robinson said. “The chapter and alumni corporation is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation. The undergraduate chapter has suspended all members implicated in the incident pending the outcome of the investigation.”

Robinson declined to say how many members were suspended or provide other details.

Director of Sorority Life Lindsey Osborne contacted police on March 1 to report the video, which was allegedly filmed Feb. 8, according to the police report.

Sources said the fraternity member and the sorority member were engaged in a sexual act that was filmed on a cellphone and circulated among members of the Greek community.

Osborne declined to comment on the incident, referring questions to Arch Jones Jr., director of organizational & community services at the UCA Police Department. Police have not released many details about the incident except the names and personal information of three suspects and 11 witnesses.

One of the three suspects, a 20-year-old student who is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, is also listed as a witness. The second suspect, a 19-year-old student from Sherwood, is also a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. The third suspect is a 21-year-old student from Wichita Falls, Texas. His affiliation with the fraternity couldn’t be determined from available information.

Eight of the 11 witnesses are listed on the incident report as students at UCA, and a ninth listed UCA on the education section of her Facebook profile. The remaining two witnesses are adjunct professors at UCA.

One of the alleged witnesses, an 18-year-old student, told The Fountain that he was in Fort Smith on the night of the incident and that the report incorrectly listed him as a witness.

The fraternity was suspended from campus for a year for violating the campus alcohol policy and fighting with members of another fraternity during the spring 2011 semester.

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Right to Wear Greek Letters Vindicated at UT Arlington

The SigEp Chapter at UT Arlington was put "under investigation", and was told they could not even wear their letters. After a student rights organization (FIRE) began asking embarrassing questions about the legality of such a ruling the college backed down. (BTW - the chapter was cleared of the original allegations).

Right to Wear Greek Letters Vindicated at UT Arlington - The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - FIRE

by Peter Bonilla

Recently, FIRE intervened at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) after the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) fraternity brought to our attention what I suspect is an all-too-common punishment against fraternities and sororities: the prohibition on displaying their letters in any way while the chapter was under investigation. After FIRE brought this issue to UTA's attention, the university promised that students and student organizations at UTA enjoy the full freedoms of the First Amendment. 

Here's the background on the chain of events resulting in this unconstitutional punishment for SigEp, as we wrote in a letter to UTA President James D. Spaniolo on September 13: 

Following an off-campus party held February 4, 2012, which resulted in allegations of "hazing," UTA's Sigma Phi Epsilon ("SigEp") chapter was notified in a February 10 letter from SigEp national Chapter Services Director Josh Hodnichak that it was to "immediately cease any and all chapter activities." These activities included "new member activities, Inter-Fraternity Council events, intramural games, social events, chapter meetings, and all other chapter activities." SigEp complied with these orders. SigEp President Troy Maikowski received a similar letter, also dated February 10,from Heather L. Snow, then director of UTA's Office of Student Conduct, ordering the fraternity to "cease and desist all activity" while under investigation. Snow's letter, however, went so far as to ban "wearing of letters on campus." Snow's letter also made clear that the order covered "both on and off campus activities and include[d] formal and informal group gatherings," and warned that "[a]ny further activity that represents the Texas Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon either on or off campus during the suspension period may result in additional disciplinary action being taken."

[Link and emphases added.] 

UVM announces planned actions in wake of fraternity's rape survey

Now the furor has died down, and the damage done, and the chapter disbanded. NOW they tell us "The fraternity was not responsible" for the "who would you rape?" survey.
Where on campus is the office which can return the chapter's reputation?

The University of Vermont has announced a series of measures to combat sexual violence in the aftermath of a scandal surrounding the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity last year.

UVM said the fraternity itself was not responsible for a controversial survey in which members of the fraternity were reported asked whom they would like to rape. A community furor ensued, the campus chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon was closed and UVM launched an investigation.

Last semester, various recommendations were made by UVM’s Gender-based Sexual Violence Task Force and the Commission on Social Change.

Thursday, a report to the UVM community by Tom Gustafson, vice president for university relations and campus life, and Annie Stevens, associate vice president for university relations and campus life, provided an update on the investigation and those recommendations.

The university’s inquiry into the fraternity has been completed, with the conclusion that “Sig Ep as an organization” was not responsible for putting the question in the survey. Other findings surfaced, however, that could lead to sanctions against the fraternity, pending investigation.

Recommendations to be implemented include:

• Providing funding for the annual Dismantling Rape Culture Conference, which is organized by UVM’s Women’s Center.
• Sponsoring an independent review of “the UVM Greek Life community” to be conducted by outside experts, with a final report due by January.
• Providing funding for a full-time men’s educator; for a post-doctoral position focusing on issues such as sexual violence and masculinity, the position to be housed in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program; and for a full-time investigator, in the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office, to review all cases of discrimination, including sexual violence.
• Making a summer-reading selection for incoming students that focuses on a topic pertaining to gender issues, violence and oppression.
• Funding one-time training costs for development of a “comprehensive bystander intervention program.”
• Creating “a communication and response plan” to handle “major incidents of bias, unusual death, sexual violence, alcohol and other drugs.”

UVM announces planned actions in wake of fraternity's rape survey | Burlington Free Press | burlingtonfreepress.com:

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