Greeks at the University of Virginia are now free to party again, with the conclusion of a temporary suspension following widespread controversy over an alleged sexual assault at a fraternity house. But not everyone will be participating. Sorority sisters at UVA have been ordered to avoid frat parties this weekend.
The Washington Post reports that the national chapters of the school’s sororities handed down the mandate, which is upsetting many students on campus who see it as targeting sorority women rather than placing the focus on fraternity men.
This semester marks Spring Rush, when students may join fraternities. A “Boy’s Bid Night” is planned for this Saturday — an event involving parties at each fraternity house that sorority sisters typically attend. But now, representatives from national chapters are telling UVA sorority sisters to stay away from bid night parties, even though the fraternities themselves are not being restricted. Women may face penalties like suspensions and fines if they attend Saturday night’s gatherings.
Tammie Pinkston, the international president of Alpha Delta Pi, told UVA’s student newspaper that “the activities on Men’s Bid Night present significant safety concerns” and encouraged sororities to “plan alternative sisterhood events” for that night.
Representatives from the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the umbrella organization for more than two dozen women’s sororities, said that the guidelines came from the presidents of each chapter rather than from the NPC itself. However, the organization indicated its support for restricting UVA’s bid night parties.
“Of course, NPC supports the safety of their women, so they do support those national presidents making that decision and encouraging sorority women to plan sisterhood events and other ‘safer’ options,” Michelle Bower, a spokeswoman for the NPC, told the Washington Post.
UVA students don’t see it quite the same way. More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition pressuring the chapter heads to revoke the bid night policy, saying it “perpetuates the idea that women are inferior, sexual objects” and “sends the message that we are weak.” Another open letter to the NPC criticizes the mandate for using sorority women “as leverage to change the actions and behaviors of fraternity men.”
“Women have historically been the targets of sexual violence, and forbidding us to exercise our agency plays dangerously into gender stereotypes surrounding the issue,” that letter states. “The mandate suggests, inadvertently perhaps, that women should not and cannot exist in certain spaces.”
Even though many of the facts in the explosive Rolling Stone article about an alleged gang rape at a UVA fraternity have since been called into question, and the story has been partially retracted, the campus has remained embroiled in a larger discussion about addressing issues of sexual violence. Several survivors of sexual have come forward to say that the Rolling Stone story resonated with them because they believe the school is grappling with a broader rape culture. Before that article’s publication, UVA was already under a federal investigation for allegedly violating Title IX, which requires colleges to adequately address reports of gender-based violence.
School officials have been wrestling with how to best respond to a flood of negative press this fall. After temporarily suspending fraternity activity, UVA administrators required frats to propose reformed “party regulations” to ensure the safety of students. The university’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) came up with a list of policies that include providing more snacks and bottled water at parties. Kegs of beer and premixed punches will no longer be served.
Efforts to prevent sexual violence often rely on cursory solutions like encouraging students to drink less alcohol, or telling women to avoid attending parties or walking alone. As UVA students point out, many of these recommendations disproportionately target women’s behavior and limit the way they move through public spaces, rather than attempting to change the behavior of rapists. Sexual violence prevention advocates say this approach ultimately fuels victim-blaming.
Real solutions will require more systematic change. For instance, there’s been a recent push toward reforming the current policy among National Panhellenic Conference sororities that keeps their houses dry. Right now, fraternity houses are the only places where Greeks gather to drink, which effectively means they’re the gatekeepers of the party scene and set the social terms — like picking a party theme and requiring attendees to wear skimpy clothing, for instance. “Fraternity members feel so entitled to women’s bodies, because women have no ownership of the social scene,” Molly Reckford, the social chair of Sigma Delta, told the New York Times.