How Rolling Stone’s fabrication changed Greek life at UVA

Finally the fallout from the Rolling Stone saga has a dollar value attached to it.

$25 million: the amount being claimed by Phi Kappa Psi in their massive lawsuit against the magazine, which follows smaller lawsuits brought earlier this year.

As its legal complaint outlined, Phi Psi has taken the brunt of the backlash from the article. The fraternities lawyers saw that the frat’s reputation, as well as the experience of its members, was “catastrophically harmed”.

But the effects of the disastrous article – which was published exactly a year ago today – went further at UVA. Hours after we reported the lawsuit last week, one fraternity member joked on his Facebook wall, “If they wanted to be super nice they’d throw like $200,000 to every fraternity on grounds for having to put up with the aftermath of all this.”

When the Phi Psi lawsuit comes to trial we will learn in detail all about the damage the story did to its members. For now, The Tab has spoken to members of other branches of our Greek life to ask them how the fallout has changed their lives on grounds.

A UVA fraternity brother, who asked not to be named, recalls the time when the article first came out: “People spray painted the house, threw rocks in the window, residents received threats.”

Asking to be anonymous to avoid undue attention coming to his frat, he told us: “Some of my friends actually moved out of the house and had to live in hotels for a while or they lived with other friends.”

Another UVA fraternity member recalls going through rush right after the article had been published: “Several members of my family have been victims of sexual assault, and it was something I felt very strongly about even before all this happened.

“So imagine my family’s reaction when I told them I was planning to participate in rush.”

He told The Tab he understands why people have the wrong idea about UVA frats.

“I can obviously see why people are worried, especially those who have never experienced these scenes for themselves. But I can say without a doubt that the expectations or standards for respect are much higher in fraternities than other places.”

Nearly immediately after the Rolling Stone article was published, a raft of party restrictions were put in place that applied to all fraternities.

“Bouncers must be in place throughout the entire party,” the first fraternity member we spoke to explained.

“Other restrictions include no hard alcohol at any parties, lists are required for people attending the party who are invited, and – I’m not sure if this rule ever came through – but something else that was supposed to be set in place was that at least two to three brothers had to be sober at the party.”

The second fraternity member added that these regulations “sound fine in principle, but when hundreds of kids are trying to get in and the hired bouncer is regulating things, it can be a mess.”

Even before the Rolling Stone piece, his fraternity “had many measures in place to ensure both girls and guys at parties are taken care of.”

He believes that “the University, and Teresa [Sullivan] in my opinion, took a very panicked, impulsive response to the article, whose effects are still widely felt.”

A sorority member at UVA, who also wished to remain anonymous, added that “the arbitrary rules put in place by the school following the act were knee -jerk and largely ineffective.”

The people we spoke to said that despite the article being widely discredited, it has still had a significant impact on how people view Greek life.

Despite the second frat member’s hesitation with his family, he made a conscious decision to not be a part of the stereotypical fraternity culture. Going into rush, he says he had some of the same reservations about fraternities. But he was quickly proved wrong.

“I can’t speak for everyone but one of the reasons I chose my fraternity was because the brotherhood makes a conscious effort – goes the extra mile – to ensure the safety and respect of their guests. It’s frustrating to be lumped to this awful mess.

“Only by really getting involved in a fraternity did I see just how genuinely, flat out wrong many of the preconceived notions about things like safety, respect, and due diligence during parties or events are.”

He continued: “We want to be known as respectful, considerate groups of guys. Any shreds of connotations about fraternities being disrespectful are condemned across the board, and I can imagine any instance of such would be addressed with severity in the chapter.”

The sorority member said: “We make jokes about Phi Psi now but we still go there. We don’t see it differently personally, but we understand how outsiders of the school or the people who don’t know them see it differently.”

A female UVA student, who also asked not to be named, expressed a different kind of concern about the article and its aftermath: “I fear a world where journalists would rather write fluff pieces than hard-hitting stories on sexual assault for fear that they will be automatically labeled as members of the radical left or that their stories will falter under increased scrutiny.

“I fear that survivors will not feel safe coming forward about traumatic personal experiences. In the aftermath of the fallout of Erdely’s piece, there was renewed scrutiny of other high-profile cases.”

“My biggest concern with it was how it really just worsened the climate for sexual assault for everybody. For survivors, it made it harder for them to come forward for fear of being labeled a Jackie,” the sorority member added.

In a piece published by Vanity Fair, it was revealed that Erdely had spoken to other women who had provided accounts of sexual assaults at fraternities, but instead she chose to focus on the account that had the most spectacle.

The female student we spoke to asked a question on many people’s minds.

“Surely, the act of a single individual should not lead to punishment for an entire group, but to what degree can we hold an organization accountable when multiple members have committed similar acts?

“The case against Phi Psi may not have held up, but there are other fraternal organizations on grounds that I personally know contain members who have sexually assaulted women I know.”

It is a weighty question. The recent AAU survey into sexual assault and misconduct found that 23 percent of women experience “unwanted sexual contact” at college.

“I think the climate a year later is definitely not as riled up about it,” the sorority sister said.

“People who were allies before are still allies, but there are no protests. I definitely would want us to address real ways of enacting change.”

Phi Psi’s legal action will likely bring much more information to light.

In the meantime, the ripples of the Rolling Stone article have not stopped, and it will take time for the water to be still again.