This story contains references to sexual violence and may disturb some readers.
Sexual assaults reported at two different fraternities near the University of Chicago are forcing the school to confront the longstanding issue of sexual violence on college campuses.
A 19-year-old woman told police she was sexually assaulted at the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity in February and filed a lawsuit about the incident this week. UChicago officials said in a statement that while the university is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, they will cooperate by providing information and are prepared to help the police’s investigation.
The lawsuit came eight days after a 21-year-old woman told police she was sexually assaulted at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity near the Hyde Park campus on Oct. 11. University officials said they do not recognize the fraternity but will determine if anyone violated school policy and “administer discipline as warranted.”
WBEZ spoke with two current UChicago students and a high school senior hoping to attend the college about their reactions to the alleged assaults and how the university is responding — and what they think needs to happen next.
Their interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rosibel Garcia, a native of Miami, is a third-year student studying chemistry at UChicago
It’s just so close to campus. It basically is campus. We cross that street every day. Having the audacity to say, “They’re not affiliated with us,” or “They’re not sanctioned” is crazy to me.
I know stories of women who have had certain experiences at this college that should have been sent in an email and it never was. The university needs to do a better job at involving students in conversations about safety around school, and talking about sexual assault around school.
Because we have the safety trainings — the online modules at the beginning of the year — but it’s still happening.
Lily Vu is a first-year student at UChicago from Manhattan, Kan. who is planning to study linguistics and math
Every university I know, there’s never been one where it’s perfectly safe in terms of sexual assault.
All my friends that are girls are saying, “We should just be so careful.” But that’s not new. As a woman, you’re always seeing these reminders to be safe, or to make sure you’re protecting yourself.
The university does have a responsibility. If they see these things happening or these patterns, they should take the initiative to do workshops or something to educate people on how to prevent that.
Keelan Scanlan-Allende is a senior at Wolcott College Prep in West Town who is applying to attend UChicago next year
I definitely don’t think it’s a unique thing to UChicago. If we’re looking across the nation, this is happening at recognized fraternities, this is happening at unrecognized fraternities. It’s not the recognition of the fraternities that’s the problem – it’s the fraternities themselves.
I’ve been looking into Greek life for a while because I was thinking, “I’m going to college. Would I join a sorority?” But I was looking into their origins, and I think it’s just kind of a thing we don’t really need anymore to maintain culture.
It doesn’t start with abolishing a chapter of a frat. I think where we’re at right now, a national dialogue surrounding frat culture, Greek life and just rape culture in general is probably a good step in the right direction.
Lisa Kurian Philip covers higher education for WBEZ in partnership with Open Campus.