Author: Hank Nuwer

Here is the story link

Excerpt:

“If you want to improve women’s lives on campus, if you want to give them a fair shot at living and learning as freely as men, the first thing you could do is close down the fraternities,” Caitlin Flanagan wrote. “The Yale complaint may finally do what no amount of female outrage and violation has accomplished. It just might shut them down for good.”

The North-American Interfraternity Conference responded with a letter to the editor, describing Flanagan’s column as extreme. “We understand the means to an end for promotions and publicity. But to disparage an entire institution is unacceptable, particularly for those who carry forward the best behavior, honors and upstanding demeanor that are usually under reported and overlooked.” The letter had not been published as of Thursday evening.

NIC President Peter Smithhisler reinforced his skepticism in an interview with Inside Higher Ed. “I think the goal was to be provocative and outrageous, but I don’t think that’s helpful in an issue that’s facing society and higher education as a whole,” he said, referring to sexual assault in Greek life. “I don’t want the impression that we support any of these negative activities, because we certainly don’t. The incongruence between values and actions is stressful to me. But I don’t think that it’s fair to create broad strokes against all fraternity activities.”

Here is the link to the review. The incident alleged by a book author occurred in 1984.

Excerpt:

In the fall of 1984, a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Virginia named Liz Seccuro was invited to a fraternity party. While there, she was given a tour of the historic house and offered a cup of the dark green cocktail that was its specialty. Within minutes she was incapacitated. She was carried into a bedroom and raped. She woke up wrapped in a bloody sheet (she had been a virgin) and watched as the rapist coldly packed his backpack and told her, “You ought to get out of here before someone sees you.”

Alone, bruised and bleeding, she walked to the emergency room, waited for hours, was sent to Student Health and began a weeks-long ordeal. One school official suggested she take some time off or perhaps transfer. Many doubted her story. She realized she had no real hope for justice, and so she gave up trying to find it.

But 20 years later, something remarkable happened: Her rapist, who had joined Alcoholics Anonymous, sent her a letter of apology—or, as Liz came to see it, a handwritten confession. The story of his prosecution and ultimate imprisonment is detailed in her riveting new book, “Crash Into Me,” which includes a horrifying revelation. She learned during the discovery process of the trial that she had been gang raped.

The University of Kentucky received the Zeta Tau Alpha Award for Innovation in Campus Hazing Prevention and Education. This $10,000 award is given to a college or university for innovative, year-round hazing prevention programming that focuses on education and intervention. Additionally, Drexel University received six registration scholarships to the Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention in recognition of the university’s continued efforts to address hazing on campus.
The Hank Nuwer Anti-Hazing Hero Award, sponsored by Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, was given to four individuals who stood up to hazing in their organizations and helped educate others about the dangers of hazing.The award recipients are:

• Amber Alt, a member of Theta Phi Alpha at Cleveland State University, who realized that another campus student organization was hazing and reported the incident to administrators
• Alison Baier, a member of Sigma Kappa at Rutgers University,who took action and assumed responsibility for ending hazing in her chapter
• Lindsay Lagreid, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Washington State University, who worked tirelessly to provide programming for National Hazing Prevention Week at WSU
• Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, who spoke out about hazing within the NFL

Novak Institute
The fourth annual Novak Institute for Hazing Prevention will be held on June 8-11 2011 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The event is a can’t-miss for professionals, volunteers, and undergraduate and graduate students involved in athletics, fraternity/sorority life, risk management, campus/community police, and many other disciplines. Attendees take whey they’ve learned back to their communities to implement an interdisciplinary hazing prevention program, so bringing an interdisciplinary team is becoming more and more popular.

This four-day hands-on experience teaches diverse groups of interdisciplinary participants how to address hazing from a strategic approach that focuses on prevention rather than just response. Nationally recognized faculty teach a prevention framework based on proven principles and grounded in research. This approach is having a growing impact across the country.

Early registration ends May 6 for $650; after this date, the fee increases to $725. The final registration deadline is May 20. Interdisciplinary teams of five or more receive a 10% discount. The student fee is $600.

Fox News Link

Excerpt

“Police have arrested Tau Kappa Epsilon members Joseph Cordasco, 20, and Christian Calderon, 21.

They’re accused of physically and mentally abusing a pledge for the TKE (The Rho Zeta Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon) fraternity.

The incident happened in March off campus from Montclair State in Cedar Grove.

The student underwent emergency surgery after cuts he received became infected.”