UVA Frats Suspended Amid Rape Allegations
— -- The University of Virginia's president announced today that she is suspending all campus fraternities.
University president Teresa A. Sullivan enacted the suspension until Jan. 9, in the wake of reports of sexual assault and violence on campus.
"I write you in great sorrow, great rage, but mostly importantly, great determination," Sullivan wrote in a statement sent to the University of Virginia community. "Meaningful change is necessary, and we can lead that change for all universities."
Alleged incidents of rape and sexual misconduct involving a UVa fraternity were reported earlier this week by Rolling Stone magazine. The report described one student's allegations that she was assaulted and that she did not receive help from school administration.
"We can demand that incidents like those described in Rolling Stone never happen," Sullivan said. "And that if they do, the responsible are held accountable to the law."
Sullivan asked Charlottesville police to investigate the alleged rape at the Phi Kappa Psi house.
On Thursday, the fraternity implicated by the Rolling Stone article, UVa's chapter of Phi Kappa Psi, announced it was voluntarily suspending all chapter-related activities.
"Make no mistake, the acts depicted in the article are beyond unacceptable," the fraternity said in a statement published by UVa's campus newspaper. "They are vile and intolerable in our brotherhood, our university community and our society."
The statement went on to say that the fraternity will cooperate in future investigations.
On Friday, Attorney General Mark Herring said the university agreed to withdraw its appointment of former federal judge and prosecutor Mark Filip as independent counsel to investigate how the school responds to rape allegations. In college, Filip was a member of Phi Kappa Psi, The Associated Press reported.
