When Rolling Stone published a chilling story about gang rape, “A Rape on Campus,” on Nov. 19 that detailed events which allegedly occurred at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at University of Virginia, many commentators demanded the expulsion of Greek life. And in response UVA immediately suspended all of the Greek Council until Jan. 9, a move that affects around 3,500 students. In the victim’s story of seven men raping her in an upstairs room during a party her freshman year with little to no justice served, removal of Greek life may seem like the obvious solution.

But it’s not.  Educating men and women on sexual assault in their first year at college is a long-lasting solution and must be the new standard. If students must take an alcohol education program, they must also take a sexual assault prevention course during orientation week so that it can be discussed in-person and be interactive.

Rape culture on American college campuses is unfortunately nothing new, and rape still occurs on campuses without Greek life. Even though it is mainly seen in the media solely through Greek Life, this problem is far more pervasive. Yes, fraternities can be a breeding ground for rape culture to thrive, as there is a stigma of never ending booze, parties and women. But this can be changed, as not all fraternities and not all men are rapists.

In a recent article, The Guardian reported, “Frat brothers rape 300 percent more. One in 5 women are sexually assaulted on campus. Should we ban frats?” believing suspending fraternities would end sexual assault. As many of us have learned however, correlation is not causation.

This likelihood can be for more reasons than more rapists join fraternities. Fraternities are allowed to host open social events and for example, those at Syracuse University can have 150 people — or more if they hire security at the door — in their houses.

For freshmen, this is one of the most popular places to go for a party, especially during orientation and welcome week. It’s also important to note the first six weeks of college is the time when college women are more likely to be raped or experience an attempted rape according to officials at University of North Carolina Wilmington.
With each fraternity house able to host more people than a normal off-campus house, and also having the authorization to, sexual assaults can be more prevalent because that’s where more college students are.

This doesn’t mean that fraternities should not be held accountable for sexual assaults — it just means that there is more to it than banning fraternities. The frat houses can provide a place for rape culture to spread and infect if prevention and education are not in place.

In a 2007 study on the effects of a rape prevention program, scientists discovered that freshman men who joined fraternities during the year and had been to a rape prevention program were significantly less likely to commit a sexual coercive act during the year than the freshman men who did not take the prevention course and then joined fraternities.

Funded by the Department of Education, the researchers deployed a program that shied away from victim-blaming solutions, such as telling people to take self-defense courses or traveling in groups, and instead focused on prevention. Bystander awareness and intervention is saying something when a situation does not seem consensual and can be far more effective than telling people not to walk home alone.

Eradicating fraternities will not stop parties from occurring and will not stop sexual assaults.  Banning or suspending fraternities is a small and misguided solution. Instead rape prevention and bystander intervention must become the norm for educating college students.  Long-term solutions must be enacted — and quickly.

Julia Smith is a junior newspaper and online journalism and sociology dual major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @jcsmith711.

Published on December 1, 2014 at 10:44 pm