More than one member in trouble? Kill the entire fraternity
The fallout against Northwestern University’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon continues in the wake of an anonymous report that unidentified women were given a date rape drug and sexually assaulted at its house.
A resolution introduced in the student government last week calls on the administration to enact a policy with “immediate and permanent removal of those students and organizations … from Northwestern’s campus and community” if found responsible for sexual assault, The Daily Northwestern reports. It specifically names SAE.
The government’s website is more than two years out of date, so it’s not clear how the resolution defines “responsible” for assault, such as an initial finding before appeal or applied against an entire fraternity if one member is found responsible.
But it’s clear that the student government has already decided SAE is guilty. President Christina Cilento told the National Campus Leadership Council, a left-wing advocacy group, that she argued for “immediate and indefinite suspension” of not only SAE, but another unnamed fraternity accused by another anonymous report.
https://twitter.com/NorthwesternASG/status/830128957869740032
.@NorthwesternASG president @ChrissyCilento addresses campus sexual assault. Read more online: https://t.co/U8xrCdyGB9 pic.twitter.com/jWDG9iYHxG
— National Campus Leadership Council (@Campus_Leaders) February 13, 2017
Resolution co-author Lars Benson suggests punishable behavior by one member is grounds for the entire fraternity’s expulsion:
“We assert that these are not isolated incidents, that they are evidence of a pervasive culture which encourages sexual assault, which allows sexual assault to transpire and which should be addressed by Associated Student Government and all of its members,” he said.
MORE: Northwestern accused fraternity based on anonymous report, no known victims
Predictably, the resolution demands more money for the Center for Awareness, Response and Education (CARE), which promotes “a culture of healthy sexuality” (more specifically, porn, lube and condoms), and for Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators to be paid:
Gabrielle Bienasz, a co-author of the bill, said CARE is “indispensable” in assisting survivors of sexual assault and said it needs to hire an additional staff member to bolster programming on sexual assault within Greek life.
“It makes a lot of sense to have women in the conversation when you’re talking about … programming for fraternities,” the Medill freshman said. “We need the funding and the staff in order to make that a sustainable and lasting change.”
5 myths about lube, busted by our friends at @Bedsider. Come to Searle for lube and barrier methods! https://t.co/cGVnOWHcLQ
— NU CARE (@CAREatNU) February 17, 2017
A separate student petition Monday makes similar demands but goes even further, the Daily reports.
Referring to the national SAE organization halting “chapter operations” at Northwestern in response to an earlier and unrelated investigation, the student petition demands that a member of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life conduct “nightly checks” on the SAE house and show “zero tolerance” if there are any “parties” (undefined).
MORE: Northwestern prof beats Title IX claims following ‘sexual paranoia’ essay
It also wants more money for the Women’s Center, “permanent funding” for a CARE position currently paid with a federal grant (the coordinator of men’s engagement) and a new full-time “prevention” staffer at CARE.
The petition asks for more and better mandatory sexual assault education programs for fraternities, with content “related to healthy masculinity, power and privilege, bystander intervention, and reporting procedures.”
As of Tuesday afternoon it had 54 signatures, including two faculty, one of them the co-chair of the Organization of Women Faculty.
Read the Daily reports, student petition and President Cilento’s interview with NCLC.
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