Last week, I mentioned that the University of Virginia shuttered all of its fraternities in the wake of disturbing revelations about rape and sexual assault on campus. The most chilling revelation came from an article in Rolling Stone in which “Jackie,” a junior, claimed that she was gang-raped in her freshman year at a party held at the Phi Kappa Psi house. However, on Friday, Rolling Stone was forced to apologize after it emerged that several details of Jackie’s account couldn’t be verified.
In an editor’s note appended to the original story, managing editor Will Dana said that after several “discrepancies” in Jackie’s story came to light, “…we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced.” Earlier in the week, the article’s author Sabrina Rubin Erdely came under fire for not interviewing any of the seven men whom Jackie said raped her. Jackie had feared retaliation if it got out that Rolling Stone was looking into the situation and asked Erdely not to contact the suspects. While Dana now says Erdely made a mistake in honoring that request, it’s hard to fault Erdely for doing so. I tend to agree with Columbia University journalism professor Helen Bennett, who pointed out that when someone approaches a reporter with a story of a mugging or robbery on campus, “…that reporter would not be expected to interview the alleged mugger or robber.”
However, the reporter would be expected to find out if the mugger or robber exists–and if The Washington Post’s reporting on this is any indication, it doesn’t look like Erdely did that. The Post forced Rolling Stone’s hand when it revealed that it could not find any member or pledge of Phi Kappa Psi in the fall of 2012 who matched the description of “Drew,” the then-junior whom Jackie said took her into the room. The Post also revealed that Jackie didn’t know whether “Drew” was a member of Phi Kappa Psi, contradicting an earlier claim. When Dana learned of these discrepancies, he tweeted that he no longer had “complete confidence” in the story.
It’s too bad because most of Erdely’s story is very true. Until very recently, UVA’s attitude toward rape and sexual assault left a lot to be desired. Most students considered rape and sexual assault to be one of the occupational hazards of being a female Wahoo. There was a lot of pressure on victims to keep quiet, lest they risk wrecking their reputations on a campus where social status is the main currency. The manner in which administrators handled cases was disturbing to say the least. For instance, in the 1990s, a male student suspended for assault was allowed to return because the dean of students was afraid he’d sue for denying him access to education. A request for better lighting on campus was turned down out of concern that it would wreck Thomas Jefferson’s vision for the school. As late as 2004, a victim was threatened with expulsion if she went public with her concerns that the man who assaulted her wasn’t being held accountable. It took two separate federal investigations to get administrators to be designated as mandated reporters and join students in coordinating a bystander-intervention program.
Several of Jackie’s friends think that something did happen to Jackie that night, even if the details are in doubt. Apparently, Charlottesville police and state Attorney General Mark Herring agree. They said that an investigation into Jackie’s claims will go forward. UVA president Teresa Sullivan said that in spite of these new developments, addressing sexual assault is UVA’s “top priority.” Still, Erdely has a lot of explaining to do.
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edited by hl
Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
