Masks Off - A Challenge to Men

What is the "Art of Manliness", you ask? This is one answer.



For me, a man with three sisters, three daughters, and one granddaughter the message is extremely relevant. Do you have sisters, girlfriends, girl-friends, wives, daughters? Then it is relevant for you as well.

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:

'via Blog this'

Vermont fraternity chapter closed over rape survey - CNN.com

Vermont fraternity chapter closed over rape survey - CNN.com:

"STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The local chapter of the fraternity is closed indefinitely, officials say
• The survey is "deplorable and absolutely inconsistent with our values," national fraternity leader says
• University of Vermont officials said they "respect and support" the decision"

'via Blog this'

Earlier video included with the story:



Editorial comment:
The staff and NDB did as well as possible by acting swiftly to investigate, decide, and act unambiguously to send a message that we will not tolerate behavior that violates our principles.

This should be viewed as a 'teachable moment' when chapter leaders and volunteers get together at the upcoming CLAs. Future incidents like this (sadly, we know there will be) must be handled in a similar no-nonsense manner.

This note from Chuck Eberly (OH Kappa, OGH) - sent originally to the Illinois NU chapter he advises - arrived earlier today. We were asked to let others know about John Foubert's One in Four program.  

I am sad to learn that the chapter has been closed, but reassured to know that our Board of Directors (which must vote to close a chapter) and our Headquarters leadership is willing to do what is necessary to live up to the values of our Fraternity. I do not know if there is such a count, but in my memory this is one of the first times a Balanced Man Chapter of Sig Ep has been closed for misbehavior.

Executive Committee, perhaps developing an all-campus program on rape awareness and prevention is a good step forward. Please go to the website for the One in Four Program developed by my friend, Dr. John Foubert, of Oklahoma State University (http://www.oneinfourusa.org/). In fact, I wonder if the incident at the University of Vermont can be used as an incentive for men in Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Epsilon (John's fraternity) to cooperatively develop One in Four Programs on multiple campuses. Some of you may know that I endorsed John's book, The Men's Program and The Women's Program, when they were published. The intent of the books is to promote the development of rape prevention programs on college campuses based on solid empirical evidence that the programs work with high-risk segments of the student population, such as athletic teams and men-only groups like college fraternities. A list of John's publications can be found on his website at Oklahoma State.

You can learn about John's work on the Internet during break.  Are there brothers in Illinois Nu who are dedicated enough to initiate such a program on the EIU campus?

Fraternally,
Chuck Eberly

Alleged Rape at SigEp Cal Poly

More Details Of Alleged Rape Released

King Harris Reporting

news@920kvec.com

 
San Luis Obispo, CA -- According to a police search warrant, the woman claiming to have been raped at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house last month drank twelve shots of Jagermeister before blacking out. She says she arrive at the party sober at 11 o’clock, but she doesn’t remember anything that happened after 1:30. When the woman woke up at about noon she had scratches on her arms and severe pain. She also couldn’t find her undergarments, which police later found in a tree in the fraternity house’s courtyard.

Later in the month, she received calls recorded by police from Joseph Trupiano. During the conversations, Trupiano said she consented and undressed herself. The conversation never specified if the woman passed out before or after the sexual encounter although, Trupiano admitted that she did pass out. He also added they were both drunk. 23-year-old Trupiano turned himself in later in the month.

The district attorney's office has not filed charges against him yet. He is set for an arraignment next Wednesday if criminal charges are filed; Trupiano is currently not in custody.

---

Video from KSBY.com

Past Bad Acts May Come Back to Haunt You!

Shutter Fraternities for Young Women's Good

By CAITLIN FLANAGAN

In the fall of 1984, a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Virginia named Liz Seccuro was invited to a fraternity party. While there, she was given a tour of the historic house and offered a cup of the dark green cocktail that was its specialty. Within minutes she was incapacitated. She was carried into a bedroom and raped. She woke up wrapped in a bloody sheet (she had been a virgin) and watched as the rapist coldly packed his backpack and told her, "You ought to get out of here before someone sees you."

Liz Seccuro in March in Charlottesville, Va. Her new book, "Crash Into Me," tells of her sexual assault by fraternity members in 1984.

Alone, bruised and bleeding, she walked to the emergency room, waited for hours, was sent to Student Health and began a weeks-long ordeal. One school official suggested she take some time off or perhaps transfer. Many doubted her story. She realized she had no real hope for justice, and so she gave up trying to find it.

But 20 years later, something remarkable happened: Her rapist, who had joined Alcoholics Anonymous, sent her a letter of apology-or, as Liz came to see it, a handwritten confession. The story of his prosecution and ultimate imprisonment is detailed in her riveting new book, "Crash Into Me," which includes a horrifying revelation. She learned during the discovery process of the trial that she had been gang raped.

The Greek system is dedicated to quelling young men's anxiety about submitting themselves to four years of sissy-pants book learning by providing them with a variety of he-man activities: drinking, drugging, ESPN watching and the sexual mistreatment of women. A 2007 National Institute of Justice study found that about one in five women are victims of sexual assault in college; almost all of those incidents go unreported. It also noted that fraternity men-who tend to drink more heavily and frequently than nonmembers-are more likely to perpetrate sexual assault than nonfraternity men, according to previous studies. Over a quarter of sexual-assault victims who were incapacitated reported that the assailant was a fraternity member.

It is against this boorish cartel that 16 Yale students and recent alumni asserted themselves in a Title IX complaint brought against the institution last month-a complaint that could cost the university $500 million in federal funds.

The claim concerns both the ways that sexual assaults are handled by the university and also the effect that various fraternity "pranks" have had on its female students. The last straw for the complainants seems to have been a Delta Kappa Epsilon initiation last fall in which a mob of pledges chanted "No Means Yes! Yes Means Anal!" and other enlightening slogans. (Yale officials have said they do not believe the university is in violation of Title IX; they have also said the university will cooperate with a federal investigation.)

Can the mere presence of slur-chanting fraternity men really create an environment that robs young women of equal opportunity to education? Yes, it can.

Two years before Liz Seccuro's rape, I enrolled at the University of Virginia. I had chosen the school for the same reason she would: its excellent English department, then the best in the country.

I had an advantage that Liz did not have. I was a transfer student, and so my new friends had already been at the university two years and were in possession of valuable information, much of it learned the hard way: I was never, ever to go upstairs at a fraternity house. To do so was to invite assault. That I could be raped by a fellow student and that the event would somehow be my fault was an idea I found alarming and intimidating.

My fourth night at school, I went with some friends to Rugby Road, where the fraternity houses are located. They are built of the same Jeffersonian architecture as the rest of the campus. At once august and moldering, they seemed sinister, to stand for male power at its most malevolent and institutionally condoned. I remember standing there thinking I'd made a terrible mistake. It wasn't worth it, I decided. The next day I withdrew from the university.

I had a miserable semester back at home, working in a department store and looking for somewhere else to go to school. But the truth was that I wanted to go to Virginia. I went back in the spring, and while few things have had as a profound an effect on my life as my UVA education, my deep mistrust of the fraternities limited the ways I engaged in life on campus and almost robbed me of the education itself.

If you want to improve women's lives on campus, if you want to give them a fair shot at living and learning as freely as men, the first thing you could do is close down the fraternities. The Yale complaint may finally do what no amount of female outrage and violation has accomplished. It just might shut them down for good.

Ms. Flanagan is author of "To Hell With All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife." Her next book, "Girl Land," will be published in January.

ASU Refuses to Follow-up on Rape Accusation

ASU Blew off Her Rape, Ex-Student Says

By JAMIE ROSS

PHOENIX (CN) - A former Arizona State student claims that "ASU refused to authorize either a drug screen [or] rape kit for DNA analysis" and "obstructed and shut down the investigation" after she was drugged and sodomized at a Sigma Chi fraternity party. She claims campus police did not interview a single Sigma Chi member, blamed her for "having been forcibly sodomized," and did it all "to make ASU appear safer than it was."
The woman claims that ASU police officers conducted a shoddy, halfhearted investigation to minimize the university's liability.
The woman sued the Arizona Board of Regents in Maricopa County Court, claiming the university violated Title IX by failing to fully investigate her claims.
She claims that ASU knew of "the risk of severe sexual harassment, including sexual assault, of female students at the Sigma Chi house on its campus," but that ASU sought to use "pressure or policy to minimize sexual assault reports to make ASU appear safer than it was."
The plaintiff, a former member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, says she went to a toga party thrown by members of Sigma Chi, where she was given alcohol. She was 19 at the time.
At the party, she says, Matt Potter, a Sigma Chi member, gave her a drink "that had been spiked with a drug designed to incapacitate her and impair her memory."
She says her memory of the night was impaired by the drink, and that she woke up the next day at the Sigma Chi house with severe rectal pain, without her purse and some of her clothing.
She says two friends and the president of the ASU Panhellenic Council took her to Tempe St. Luke's Hospital, where a sexual assault examination determined that she had been "sodomized with significant 'anal injury' with rectal and vaginal pain, bloody stool, and exposure to bodily fluids."
She says that despite her injuries and a request from the emergency room physician, ASU police officers refused to authorize a rape kit, drug screen, or a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) examination. She says the officers blamed her for "having been forcibly sodomized."
She claims that "the reason [ASU] Officer Janda would not conduct a proper investigation of [her] sodomy and sexual assault because she had consumed alcoholic beverages before the assault, was a pretext to minimize ASU's liability."
After she was released from the hospital, she says, her sister drove her to Tucson, where she was examined by a physician at Northwest Medical Center Hospital and was found to be a "crime victim" of "sexual assault." By that time, she says, it was too late to perform a drug screen or rape kit.
She claims that members of Sigma Chi and her sorority identified David Gallagher, a Sigma Chi member, as one of her assailants. She says Gallagher went by the nickname "Therapist" - "which stood for 'The Rapist'" - at the fraternity.
ASU's Office of Student Life, Judicial Affairs interviewed her once, and interviewed only one of her sorority sisters for its investigation, she says. "No Sigma Chi members were ever questioned," and ASU closed the investigation less than 2 months after the rape, according to the 21-page complaint.
"ASU has in recent years systematically and severely underreported sexual assault reports," the complaint states. "For 2008, ASU reported and posted only four forcible sexual assault reports in its 2009 Annual Security Reports, despite, on information and belief, having received at least several dozen reports.
"On information and belief, the motivations of ASU police for refusing to investigate [the plaintiff's] rape and sodomy included ASU's pressure or policy to minimize sexual assault reports to make ASU appear safer than it was."
ASU is required by the Clery Act "to report to the U.S. Department of Education, and to post publicly, all reports of sexual assaults made to campus police or its Judicial Affairs or other personnel," according to the complaint.
But ASU never reported her rape and sodomy in its Annual Security Report, she says. And she says the school took no action against Gallagher or Potter or Sigma Chi.

ASU placed the fraternity on probation in 2003 for bruising pledges by paddling their buttocks, and ASU received a report of "screams for help and a possible violent sexual assault" in the house in that time, according to the complaint. It adds that Sigma Chi hazed Alpha Phi sorority pledges in 2006 by forcing them to unwillingly participate in "girl on girl" activities and stripteases.
The woman says she suffers severe post-traumatic stress disorder and dropped out of ASU after suffering panic attacks and fear while on campus. She filed a lawsuit in February against the Sigma Chi fraternity for civil conspiracy, battery and assault.
She seeks punitive damages for past and future tuition, expenses related to the sexual assault, and for pain and suffering. She is represented by Baine P. Kerr of Hutchinson, Black and Cook of Boulder, Colo., and Patricia Kirtley Wells of Phoenix.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/07/14/28802.htm

Asking to be raped? We don't think so.

This great rebuttal came to us from Joseph Vidulich in D.C.

Brother,

I don’t know if you know about this, but all over the news in the D.C. region is this story about American University and condoning the notion that if young ladies get drunk at fraternity parties they are basically asking to be date-raped. Well the story has cause a significant amount of outrage around the campus and the region. See below.

Student's column stirs date-rape debate

Paper issues apology

The boys at D.C. Delta, in the wake of the outrage, wrote a letter to the campus paper, the Eagle, outlining the values they uphold and the standards they bring to the University. It is truly an honor to work with these boys on a daily basis. They set the standard for fraternalism on American University’s campus and makes this alum constantly proud.

The letter and links are below.
Letters to the Editor

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity responds

We, the Brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon, take issue with Mr. Alex Knepper’s article “Dealing with AU’s anti-sex brigade.” We are offended with his portrayal of any person who attends a social function as passively accepting sexual intercourse regardless of actual consent. Going to a party does not mean anyone explicitly wants sex.

Sigma Phi Epsilon prides itself on keeping high standards of decency, community and respect. Rather than submit to stereotypes of the “frat,” SigEp created the Balanced Man Program which teaches members to care for our bodies, our minds and the people around us. SigEp Brothers have subsequently taken alcohol and date courses in show of support. We are positive that other fraternities on this campus are teaching similar values and should be commended for such. For anyone to throw around terms like “frat” and implications of enabling and threatening student bodies, is an insult to the values and mission that Fraternities provide.

It saddens us that the tragedy of date rape persists in our society and affects all campus communities. The fight to eradicate the violence is not helped by individuals who make over-arching statements that come to the conclusion that anyone who attends a party, fraternity affiliated or otherwise, is consenting to sex. Legally and morally, this is not the case. The most recent large-scale study conducted by the Department of Justice of rape on college campuses, found an average 35 rapes per 1,000 female students over seven months. But this shocking number doesn’t tell the full tale. These are not passive participants to be made light of, they are people. These are not just tragic numbers; they are fellow students sitting next to you in classes. These are not just sad statistics, they are strong survivors.

Mr. Knepper’s arguments may be illogical and hurtful, but he is not the source of the problem in this discussion. Date rape continues to occur with or without Mr. Knepper’s outrageous remarks. All college students must take it upon themselves to stop date rape. Whether that means talking to someone in the Women’s Initiative or the GLBTA Resource Center, participating in Take Back the Night, or even simply listening to a friend without judgment — we can all do something.

Date rape is an appalling epidemic that faces everyone. For ourselves, our friends and communities we must stand up. Instead of blaming the survivor, we can logically examine what causes a person to believe they have the right to another’s body. Instead of making inflammatory statements for personal fame, we can come up with solutions. Instead of blaming fraternities, we can reach out to them as an ally.

It pains us that Mr. Knepper’s article represents many ills of this world. Date rape is persistently robbing our communities of sexual security. The more we learn about the issue of date rape in our community the more active we can become. The more we understand the harm it does and the survivor’s strength, the more we can do to support those affected. The more individuals get invested in this issue, the faster an unwavering collective ‘we’ will stand up against this crime. American University, we must all stand up. We must stand together. Not just to stop hurtful speeches of one writer for The Eagle, but to stop painful actions across our community and across all college campuses. The Brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge our continued support to the community, AU’s survivors, and the collective “we” to educate and eradicate this tragic plague.

The DC Delta Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon

Joseph Vidulich
DC Delta ‘08

Actually, with a response like that, those "boys" have shown themselves to be mature men.

MI Kappa at GVSU Rocks Against Rape

 

ALLENDALE - Students at Grand Valley State University held a special event Saturday night. Rock Against Rape is in its 6th year, and as the name shows, it's far from the typical lecture raising awareness about sexual assault.

Instead, hundreds of students show up and enjoy bands and free food, all while learning more about stopping sexual assault. Organizers say the relaxed atmosphere helps bring up a topic that can be tough to talk about. The event is sponsored by Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternit and the group Eyes Wide Open, a resource for survivors.

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted at some point in their lives and college-aged women are four times more likely to be assaulted.

GVSU Rocks Against Rape - FOX 17

ASU Sigma Chi's Accused Of Sodomy and Rape

Woman Says Frat Boys Drugged & Raped Her

By JAMIE ROSS

PHOENIX (CN) - Members of Arizona State's Sigma Chi fraternity drugged and sodomized a woman at a toga party, the woman says in Maricopa County Court. She claims the Sigma Chi chapter at ASU has a history of code of conduct violations and "sexual violent offenses" including hazing, forced drug use and animal abuse.

The plaintiff, a former student at ASU and member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, went with other sorority members to Sigma Chi's toga party at a sushi restaurant which the fraternity had rented for the night. She says she was given alcohol there though she was just 19 years old.

At the restaurant, she says, Matt Potter, a Sigma Chi member, gave her an alcoholic drink "that had been spiked with a drug designed to incapacitate her and impair her memory."

She says her memory of the night was impaired by the drink, until she woke up the next day at the Sigma Chi house with severe rectal pain, without her purse and some of her clothing. She says a friend took her to Tempe St. Luke's Hospital, where a sexual assault examination determined that she had been assaulted and "exposed to bodily fluids" through anal and vaginal penetration.

She claims that members of Sigma Chi and her sorority identified David Gallagher, a Sigma Chi member, as one of her assailants. She says Gallagher went by the nickname "Therapist" - i.e. "The Rapist" - at the fraternity.

The woman says she suffers from severe post traumatic stress and dropped out of ASU after suffering panic attacks and fear while on campus.

She says the ASU placed the fraternity on probation in 2003 for bruising pledges by paddling their buttocks, and that ASU received a report of "screams for help and a possible violent sexual assault" in the house in that time.

In 2005, Sigma Chi members allegedly mutilated and decapitated a woman's pet cat, and caused thousands of dollars of damage to a San Diego hotel. They also harassed other hotel guests, according to the complaint.

And she says Sigma Chi hazed Alpha Phi sorority pledges in 2006 by forcing them to unwillingly participate in "girl on girl" activities and stripteases.

The Sigma Chi House Corporation of Epsilon Upsilon is also named as a defendant in the complaint.
 
The woman seeks punitive damages for civil conspiracy, assault and battery. She is represented by LaShawn D. Jenkins.

A copy of the Complaint can be viewed at http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/02/05/TogaParty.pdf

U of Arkansas Bans All Fraternity Social Activities

Greek Activities Halted
UNIVERSITY BANS FRATERNITY SOCIALS UNTIL SPRING SEMESTER
By Kate Ward

FAYETTEVILLE - The University of Arkansas’ Office of Greek Life, trying to send a “strong message” about student conduct, has banned the school’s fraternities from all social activities until the spring semester.

Greek Life Director Parice Bowser said the decision was prompted by recent rape and hazing allegations made separately involving activities at two university fraternities houses.
“Our office decided to send a strong message to students that we are taking these matters ... seriously,” Bowser said. “We also want to be proactive whereas situations, such as what we’re dealing with now, will not occur again.”

Bob Biggs, executive vice president of the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity, said members of the Arkansas Alpha Chapter of Phi Delta Theta came under fire earlier this week when 18-year-old Nicholas Brown, a potential new member of the fraternity, was transported to the Washington Regional Medical Center and treated for severe alcohol poisoning. Biggs said the incident occurred after a Nov. 12 “Big Brother, Little Brother” fraternity function, which took place at the Phi Delta Theta House at 108 N. Stadium Drive. Brown was transported to the hospital from his Humphrey’s Hall residence about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 13. Upon arrival, he had a blood alcohol content of .68, according to University of Arkansas police records. That level is more than eight times the level at which one is considered intoxicated under state driving-while-intoxicated laws.

Brown was given a citation alleging misdemeanor public intoxication. At the current time, police are not conducting any criminal investigation related to Brown’s underage status. It’s illegal to provide alcohol to anyone younger than 21.

“We’re continuing our investigation and hope to conclude it soon,” Biggs said. “We plan to develop a course of action by Monday afternoon.”

Biggs said the outcome of the national organization’s investigation could result in both individual and group consequences, including the fraternity’s closing.

Bowser said rape allegations made against two Razorback basketball players and one former player at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity on Aug. 27 also played a role in her decision to stop all remaining fraternity events for 2009.

Charges against the three were not pursued after Washington County Prosecutor John Threet determined that there wasn’t enough evidence. The case has since been forwarded to a special prosecutor after questions arose over Threet’s relationship with Frank Broyles, the former UA athletic director and Kevin Trainor, a spokesman for the UA Athletic Department. Broyles is married to Threet’s mother-in-law. Trainor is his brother-in-law.

Since learning of the hazing allegations on Tuesday, Phi Delta Theta officials have been working with the UA and local alumni officers to conduct an investigation.

According to an incident report issued by University Police, officers responded to the seventh floor of Humphrey’s Hall to reports of an unconscious, intoxicated man. Police found Brown lying across the hallway with two women sitting beside him. One of the witnesses at the scene, 19-year-old Erika Akel, identified herself as Brown’s girlfriend. During an interview with police, Akel said she picked Brown up from the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house and brought him to Humphrey’s Hall. They both got on the elevator and exited on the seventh floor. Akel said Brown lost his balance and fell forward, striking his face on the ground.

Bowser said the decision to cancel all sanctioned fraternity events came Thursday. Students were notified by e-mail that all fraternity activities, including coke dates, parties, formals, hall parties and co-sposored events with sororities, had been postponed until Spring, 2010.
“We’ve canceled individual events before, but we’ve never had to cancel all fraternity activities,” she said.

Bowser said she couldn’t provide a list of affected fraternity functions since social activities only have to be registered seven days in advance. Sororities, she said, are encouraged to host “sisterhood” activities at their own residential facilities prior to any other previously planned social event.

Jessa Mehlhoff, president of the UA’s Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, said the new restrictions wouldn’t hinder future sorority activities. “We didn’t have any events planned with the fraternities, so it won’t be a problem for us,” she said.

Bowser said the Interfraternity Council, which oversees fraternities on campus, and the Greek Life staff will make random house visits, in partnership with UAPD, during the next few weeks. University Police Lt. Matt Mills said the police will be looking for organizations violating the new policy.

“We’ll be looking for the same thing we’d be looking for on any other night, which is unregistered parties,” he said.

Calls made to several UA fraternity members were not returned by early Friday evening.
According to the UA student handbook, hazing is defined as, “any activities causing mental or physical stress and/or embarrassment which are required of an individual joining or belonging to any organization.”

http://www.nwanews.com/news/2009/nov/21/greek-activities-halted/

Copyright © 2009 Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, LLC.
________________________________________

Maine Sig Eps Rock Against Rape

Sexual assault faces the music
Portland rockers and student musicians perform at 8th annual Rock Against Rape


Tricia Holmes, The Maine Campus
Ryan Harris and Luke Finnemore performed at Rock Against Rape with the band “Two Days Later.”
By Kegan Zema

Falll weather didn’t stop people from gathering behind the University of Maine Field House for Sigma Phi Epsilon’s eighth annual Rock Against Rape. The concert, which raises awareness about sexual assault, featured Portland-based headliners Headstart and student bands Restless Groove and Two Days Later.

Adam Mullen, a fourth-year music student, organized the event and played lead guitar in Two Days Later.

“We’re trying to get as many people here as possible because we can give them the message that they may not hear when they’re in the dorms,” Mullen said. “They might not get out and hear about Spruce Run [a domestic abuse center] or Rape Response Services and what’s available to them.”

The concert, which does not raise any money, features speakers in between the musical acts. Noel March, University of Maine Public Safety police chief, provided staggering statistics about sexual assault at UMaine. According to March, seven cases were reported last year at UMaine, but this number represents one-tenth of cases are actually happen.

Tina Voigt, community outreach educator for Rape Response Services, spoke at the event as well.

“I go around to schools, businesses and obviously university concerts,” Voigt said. “We try to get to the root of the problem, as opposed to just treating the symptoms. We try to debunk the myths.”

Voigt praised the brothers of Sig Ep for supporting the cause as a group of men. She said she was glad they continue to hold the Rock Against Rape event and prove rape is not just a women’s issue.

Just as important as the message was the music. The crowd swayed to the ’90s rock sounds of Two Days Later, which featured two brothers from Sig Ep. The band played a mix of originals and songs that caused a little too much nostalgia, while singer James Gilmore’s vocals shined.

Restless Groove, another student band, brought the funk with them. Plenty of bass slapping and snappy guitar riffs got the audience moving in the frigid air.

Headstart, Portland’s Blink-182, even brought a posse from southern Maine to add to the Rock Against Rape crowd.

According to Mullen, budget cuts affected the show, but with student bands playing for free, the show was able to go on.

“We were able to find [Headstart] who rock pretty hard,” Mullen said. “I listen to them. I like their stuff. We had a couple openers scheduled that I also liked but they either broke up or they couldn’t do it.”

Mullen enjoyed himself on stage as well. He said he was less nervous about playing, and more nervous something would go wrong because he was in charge of the event.

“But when I’m on stage,” he added, “I’m there to entertain, I’m there to rock out and I’m there to have a good time.”

The concert was dedicated to Sig Ep brother Andrew Gerke who passed away last spring. While at UMaine, he helped organize a multitude of Rock Against Rape shows and was responsible for bringing some big names to the event, according to Mullen.

“He really touched a lot of people’s lives,” Mullen said. “I really, really felt that we need to [dedicate the concert] to him this year. I think he would have been very proud.”

Oregon State Frater Gets 8 Years for Rape

OSU student gets 8 years for frat party rape
This is a press release from the Benton County District Attorney's Office:

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Judge Janet Holcomb sentenced 20-year-old Gregory Thomas Sako to 8 years, 4 months in prison on Tuesday for the crime of first-degree rape. After completion of the sentence, he will have more than 11 years of parole. Sako will also be required to register as a sex offender and submit his DNA to Oregon’s criminal database.

The conviction stemmed from a jury verdict after a four-day trial that began on May 11. The State was represented by Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Stringer, who presented 17 witnesses including six expert witnesses on such topics as forensics, medical examination, sex abuse trauma and alcoholic blackout.

The rape occurred at a Halloween fraternity party at Oregon State University where the evidence showed that Sako was dressed as a beer bottle and the victim was dressed as the Disney character Tinkerbell. Although there was no evidence that the victim was clinically intoxicated at the time, there was evidence that alcohol played a factor in the defendant’s conduct.

The State presented evidence including the victim’s blood soaked Halloween costume, photographs of both the victim’s and the defendant’s blood stained underwear, medical testimony of vaginal tearing and a transcript of Sako’s interview with detectives where he both denied having sex as well as saying that he could not remember parts of the evening. The State presented testimony which showed that the DNA inside Sako’s underwear belonged to the victim - with the odds against that being 1 in 10 billion.

The defendant was represented by Stephen Ensor Esq., who presented two expert witnesses on the topics of medical examination and sex abuse trauma, several members of the defendant’s fraternity and a California businessman who testified on behalf of the defendant’s character for non-violence and lawfulness.

Sako is a graduate of Menlo-Atherton High School in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. At the time of the crime he was a sophomore at Oregon State University, a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and a cadet in the Air Force ROTC.

The victim was a 21-year-old college student from Portland, Ore., who remains unidentified by policy.

This case was investigated by the Corvallis Police Department.

---

San Diego Sig Eps Hear Rape Presentation

'Bystander effect' addressed
Fraternities listen to info about rape and how to help a victim
Bill Crotty, staff writer

Ninety percent of sexual assaults in the San Diego State area are not committed by a masked stranger in a dark alley, but by someone already acquainted with the victim. This was one of several major points hammered out last Tuesday during a presentation at Sigma Phi Epsilon.

The presentation was given by Kat Wagner, who works with the Center for Community Solutions, and Angela Geisler, the deputy city attorney in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office. Wagner and Geisler have been giving these presentations about the “bystander effect” since April.

The “bystander effect” is quite literally people standing around not helping a victim during an incident of rape or sexual assault, they said.

“Sex is defined as any form of penetration,” Wagner said. “And rape is defined by whether or not there was consent.”

While this seems like an obvious statement, “consent” really is not very simple.

Anyone who has been drinking or has taken any drug that affects their state of mind cannot really make an informed decision, nor give consent, Geisler and Wagner said.

“If someone is under the influence of any mind-altering drug, then just don’t do it,” Wagner said.

“Any” drug is not an exaggeration either. Many over-the-counter drugs, and illegal ones like marijuana, can be considered to have a mind-altering effect on someone’s state of mind. The primary drug of choice though is alcohol.

“Ninety-five percent of incidents involve alcohol in the SDSU area, but the national average is 85 percent,” Wagner said.

One audience member brought how accusations, which may be false, can be damaging to an entire fraternity. The number of false accusations for rape is the same as false accusations for other crimes, which several audience members seemed surprised to hear.

The statistics regarding rape are staggering; 84 percent of men who commit rape have said it wasn’t a rape, but only two percent of them are actually false accusations according to Wagner.

“Many offenders just don’t know what constitutes rape,” she said.

During the presentation at Sig Ep, several stories were told and videos from some victims were shown. One incident Wagner talked about involved a girl being assaulted by three men in a dorm room with people walking by who could easily have stopped it and didn’t. The incident did not end until someone realized it was a girl they knew.

Erasing the phenomenon of people only intervening on sexual assault for a friend was one of the goals of the “No Bystander” presentation.

When it was all over, Lizeth Romo, a criminal justice senior at SDSU commented, “It was very helpful, and the presentation was a great way to consider the problem, and what rape is.

“I know people that have not reported (a rape or sexual assault incident) and should.”

Wagner is very proud of her job of helping people through her work.

“I get to help people all day long with this, it’s an extremely rewarding experience.”

Anyone can apply to volunteer at CCS by calling (760) 747-6282, and more general information about the subject can be found at www.CCSSD.org.

Awareness raised and bodies rocked

University of Maine Sig Eps held the sixth annual "Rock against Rape" concert. The usual political suspects showed up in between several band sets to help raise awareness and lend their support to a worthy cause.

On Saturday night, congressional representative Mike Michaud kicked off the evening by thanking everyone involved. He asserted the importance of the event and said, "It takes more than money ... it takes awareness." Michaud mingled with the students, giving firm handshakes, listening keenly and showing a moderate interest before the real show began
[...]
Taking the stage next was congressional representative Tom Allen with his wife Diana. They both echoed Michaud's request for awareness and transparency in regards to sexual assaults. Mrs. Allen explained her ambivalent feelings when she worked for the sexual assault hotline. She "felt a dread" whenever the phone rang but was glad she could be there for support.
[...]
Overall, the Sig Ep-endorsed Rock Against Rape, with a combination of political figures and entertaining musical groups was successful in raising awareness for sexual assault.

Congratulations on a continuing - and sadly continuously needed - committment to raising awareness.

Awareness raised and bodies rocked - Style

Just in! - Duke D.A. Barred from Bar

Looks like yesterday's crocodile tears and offer to resign were not enough to convince the ethics panel. They told him this afternoon "You can't quit, You're Fired!"

N.C. panel disbars Duke prosecutor

By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. - District Attorney Mike Nifong will be disbarred for his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, a disciplinary committee decided Saturday. Even the veteran prosecutor said the punishment was appropriate.

"This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said committee chairman F. Lane Williamson.

Nifong sat motionless, one hand resting over his mouth, as Williamson recounted how he engaged in dishonest and deceitful conduct. He said Nifong's early comments about the case — which included a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl" — were purposefully designed to boost his campaign for district attorney.

"At the time he was facing a primary, and yes, he was politically naive," Williamson said. "But we can draw no other conclusion that those initial statements he made were to further his political ambitions."

Nifong will not appeal the punishment, his lawyer said.
[...]
Williamson questioned why it took several months for the defense to get DNA test results that found genetic material from several men in the accuser's underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player.

"It wasn't just one little oversight," Williamson said later. "This was conduct over an extended period in a very high-profile case."

Aware of those test results, Nifong pressed ahead with the case anyway and won indictments against Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. State prosecutors later concluded the three players were "innocent" victims of a rogue prosecutor's "tragic rush to accuse."

Looks like from now on the only bar Mr. Nifong will be addressing is the one with whiskey bottles and beer taps.

And it isn't over for him, either. Attorneys for the three lacrosse players are planning to seek criminal contempt charges, too.
N.C. panel disbars Duke prosecutor - Yahoo! News

Duke lacrosse prosecutor plans to quit

The DA who so aggressively pursued the Duke lacrosse players he alleged raped a woman at a party has announced he is quitting. He is currently on trial himself for allegations of ethics violations in the case. He kept insisting the three young men were guilty and must be prosecuted even as the case fell apart. The accuser kept changing her story as new facts came to light, and there was a total lack of forensic evidence of wrongdoing.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Testifying in defense of his conduct in the sexual assault case against three Duke University lacrosse players, Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong cried and conceded that he made mistakes, apologized to the accused and their families for the "pain" the prosecution had caused and announced his intention to resign.

"To the extent that my actions have caused pain to Finnertys, the Seligmanns, the Evans', I apologize," he said Friday during the emotional conclusion to his direct testimony at a bar hearing. "To the extent that my actions have brought disrespect or disrepute to the bar, to my community, I apologize."
[...]
A three-person panel of the North Carolina State Bar is considering charges that Nifong violated ethics rules while pursuing rape allegations, brought by a stripper hired to perform at a team party, against the three players. The state attorney general in April declared that the players were "innocent."

The bar complaint accuses Nifong of making prejudicial statements in the case's early stages, of lying to a judge and of withholding exculpatory DNA evidence. If he is found guilty, the panel could suspend his law license or disbar him.
[...]
Nifong denied that the months of withholding the DNA evidence — which showed other men's DNA present but not that of the accused players — was malicious. Instead, he said it was a result of an oversight caused in part by his lack of careful notes.

There are a lot of college students who read this blog. Can you imaging having this conversation with your parents? Parents, can you imaging having this conversation with your child?...

The ramifications of his pursuit of the allegations also became clearer Friday, as Reade Seligmann testified about the effect on his family.

Seligmann choked back tears and brought tears to the eyes of family members when he described how he learned that he had been picked out of a lineup by the accuser. He was in his lawyer's office, he said, when the secretary came in and said, "Mike Nifong is on the phone."

"He picks up the phone. You could see the color in his face just changing. ... The room was spinning," Seligmann said. "My dad just fell to the floor, and I just sat on the ground, and I said, 'My life is over.' " He then called his mother.

"I said, 'Mom are you alone right now?' She said, 'Yeah, what's going on?' " he testified. "I said, 'She picked me.' I could hear her on the other end of the phone. The life was just sucked right out of her."

As the parent of a college student, I cringe to think of it.

The outcome of the hearing may be a recommendation to disbar Nifong. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

But how are the three young men who have had their lives completely disrupted going to get the last year back? You may recall they were vilified in the press as being "spoiled rich kids" with no sense of responsibility. Although they were lacrosse players, when you read the coverage from back then it is easy to see how the DA, news media, and of course the blogosphere were simply substituting "lacrosse team" for "fraternity" in their rush to judgment.

Duke lacrosse prosecutor plans to quit | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Iowa State Greeks Take on Sexual Assault

Iowa State U. Greek men ‘Walk a Mile in Her Shoes’
By Josh Hillman

Iowa State University's sorority circle will become a catwalk Thursday night, as fraternity men plan to don high heels to raise awareness of sexual assault issues.

The Interfraternity Council is sponsoring "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes," an event that asks fraternity members to walk one mile in women's shoes as a lighthearted segue into a discussion of sexual assault in the community.

The event is set for 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Sunset Drive and Gray Avenue.

Following the walk, Angie Schreck, sexual assault services coordinator for Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support, will give a speech addressing sexual assault awareness.

Brad White, vice president for community service and philanthropy for IFC and sophomore in pre-business, said he hopes to have 50 to 100 people attend.

One of his major concerns at this point, however, is making sure they have enough high heels for all the men."Right now, we're asking women of the greek community to be willing to loan some out for the day," White said.

"We're probably now making this an annual event, so I'll buy shoes for IFC to use for future years."

The event is in its second year, and White expects it to last no longer than an hour.

White believes the event is positive for the community."I think that it really gets the men of the greek community thinking about the issues. It's an uncomfortable issue obviously, and this is an easier way of talking about it," White said.

Schreck said events such as this are valuable not only to the community, but also to sexual assault victims. She hopes people learn messages of both prevention and response."[In regards to abuse] prevention, men look at why it takes place and how they can stand up against it," Schreck said.

For assaults that do happen, Schreck said it's vital for friends and confidants to know what to do."

That response -- that first person that the victim goes to -- is so important to how the victim recovers, views their assault," she said.

Schreck said her presentation will combine the lighthearted nature of the event with the gravity of sexual assault.

"I hope to mix the two together in the most appropriate way," she said.

Schreck hopes momentum for awareness events picks up in the community.

"We'd love to see other groups pick up ideas and do these kinds of activities," she said. "Anybody with the right information and the imagination or motivation can do
this."

Former Duke Players Cleared of All Charges - New York Times

This is not exactly a fraternity story, but is fairly close. At least in the kind of responses it raised when it was first reported.

The Duke lacrosse team players who were accused of rape, 'sexual offenses', and kidnapping have been cleared of all charges. The state attorney general concluded there was no evidence to proceed with a case.

An independent investigation “showed clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed,” Roy A. Cooper, the state attorney general, said at a televised news conference. “ We believe these individuals are innocent.”

He said the accounts of the events given by the woman who made the accusations were so inconsistent that they were not credible. “She contradicts herself,” Mr. Cooper said.

The decision brings to an end a 13-month ordeal for the young men, two of whom were dismissed from Duke because of the charges.

David F. Evans, 24, of Annapolis, Md.; Reade W. Seligmann, 21, of Essex Falls, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y., were initially charged with rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. One of two women hired to strip at the lacrosse team’s spring break party in March 2006 accused them of raping and assaulting her in a bathroom of an off-campus house.

The rape charges were dropped in December, after the woman changed a key detail in the case, saying she could not be sure what had penetrated her when she said she was gang-raped. The woman changed her story after DNA tests showed no traces of DNA from any of the three defendants or any other Duke lacrosse player on her body or clothes, while traces of other male DNA were present.

The case touched nerves of race, sex and privilege, both nationally and in Durham, because the accuser was a poor, black local woman and the students were relatively affluent, white out-of-staters. It also tapped into a debate about the off-the-field behavior of college athletes and the proper role of big-money sports on America’s university campuses.

There is lots more in the linked New York Times article, including a local prosecutor who was trying to win an election off the case, Political correctness gone completely off the rails, "poor black girl" vs. "rich white boys", bungled investigations, a "victim" who could not seem to tell the same story twice in a row, and a complete lack of forensic evidence. This tale has "TV Movie" written all over it.

As former Secretary of Labor Ray Donovan might say, "where do they go to get their reputations back?"

Too bad Don Imus has been gagged. I bet he would have some interesting comments.

Former Duke Players Cleared of All Charges - New York Times