Content warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault that may be disturbing for some readers.
Last Sunday, hundreds of UMass students gathered outside the Theta Chi fraternity house in protest of sexual assault allegations.
Lucia, a junior at UMass Amherst who chose not to give her last name, sat in the design building on campus the evening of Sept. 19 doing her homework. Tensions were high among UMass students as many took to social media demanding the abolition of the Theta Chi fraternity. 200 feet away from the growing crowd, Lucia abandoned her work and joined in the protests.
According to Lucia, the crowd was larger than many reports suggested – probably double the estimated 300. It had grown from the afternoon protests (and would continue to grow into Monday night’s protest). This was the aftermath of the sexual assault allegations directed at Theta Chi brothers from the evening of Sept. 18.
Allegations started with a single post on the app Yik Yak, and many other students began speaking out about their similar experiences at Theta Chi. “I am a supporter of the disruption – it has to happen,” Lucia said. “I and several of my friends have had at least one bad experience with a frat brother.”
“Because I’m interested in Greek life, I’ve been told to stay away from Theta Chi,” a first year at UMass who chose not to provide his name said. “They’ve had a long reputation of sexual assault.” Despite their history, the latest security report from 2019 given to The Sophian by UMass police (UMPD) shows an official number that is lower than the number students estimate. There were 23 sexual assault reports in 2018 and 2019. One sexual misconduct case in 2018 and four cases in 2019 involved people living off campus. Sexual assault accusations at fraternities are counted under non-campus because fraternity houses are on private property.
In a survey conducted by the Instagram account @disband.theta.umass, 63 individuals came forward with stories of sexual assault within a day of the survey’s dissemination. Of the 63, 36 experienced acts of violence by members of Theta Chi. Anna Morel-Paletta, a sophomore at UMass and creator of the account, says that the UMass administration tells its students that “nearly all sexual assault cases go unreported.”
The initial stance of the administration was that they “cannot take action against alleged perpetrators, whether they be individuals or organizations, without actionable evidence,” as stated in Chancellor Subbaswamy’s first email to the student body. The administration’s sentiment has since changed. With a petition with 23,000 signatures and climbing, the administration decided to conduct formal investigations Sept. 22, according to Communications Director Ed Blaguszewski.
The pressure came in from the widespread dissatisfaction with the college’s response. Amherst PD increased its presence in response to calls after protestors began breaking windows and vandalizing fences. Two arrests were made at the protest. Lucia, within earshot of the arrest, said, “I could hear what the cops were yelling. He said ‘You think you’re such a big shot? I’m a bigger shot than you are.’”
Many posted on social media to express their discontent with the response, with posts claiming that UMPD stands with rapists. When The Sophian reached out to UMPD for comment, their spokesperson Mary Dettloff said, “The arrests were made by Amherst PD. The fraternities at UMass are all on private property, not campus property. They are under the jurisdiction of Amherst PD.”
Though most of the attention is currently on Theta Chi, various individuals have had negative experiences with other fraternities. Lucia names ZBT as a personal example. A sophomore fraternity brother who asked to remain anonymous said, “Theta, AEPI and ZBT have somehow managed to squeak by case after case.”
Many choose not to report their cases for a variety of reasons. Lucia chose not to report the incident with a ZBT fraterinity brother for the same reason as many other sexual assault survivors – an overall disillusionment with the process. The survey done by @disband.theta.umass found 3 individuals who had reported their case to UMass but never saw any action taken. Both Lucia and Morel-Paletta told the Sophian that there is a reputation of reports leading to nothing, both in areas of sexual assault and discriminatory slurs.
When asked about the reporting protocol, the UMPD told the Sophian that all students are required to complete a course that outlines how to report and what their rights are. Morel-Paletta says, “For accessibility, I believe UMass does a fair job in making resources accessible for survivors. However, the problem is that nothing is being followed through with.”
This frustration is a sentiment shared by the rest of the community. Lex Tinkham from Northshore Community College created an instagram post calling to ‘Abolish Fraternities’ in response, which has garnered almost 14,000 likes. At Smith, many have been engaging in calls to disband Theta Chi. The Smith community has seen these levels of frustration.
The issue seems to hit close to home for many five college students because of their proximity to UMass. Tinkham, who intends to transfer to UMass Amherst, said to the Sophian, “It could have been me.”
Anna ‘25, said, “As a woman and part of the 97% [of women who have been sexually assaulted in the United States], I care regardless of where I go to school.” Another first-year at Smith who asked to remain anonymous said, “The lack of action taken by UMass’s administration makes me fear for the safety of not only UMass students, but students at all 5 of the colleges who go to UMass for classes or on the weekends.”
While the frustration with sexual assault and the administration’s response appears almost unanimous, there are differences in what students want to see from the UMass administration.
Of the individuals we interviewed, almost everyone wanted to see the disbanding of Theta Chi and the expulsion of the alleged rapists. However, not everyone wants to see this extended to Greek life as a whole. Josh, a student at UMass, said, “I don’t think Greek life should be abolished, but it could certainly be improved. Other colleges with Greek life don’t seem to be as problematic as UMass.”
Morel-Paletta seconded this, asserting that their current goal is to shut down Theta Chi. She said, “In my opinion, there are fraternities and sororities on our campus that have good intentions. For this reason, I don’t believe Greek life should be completely abolished. However, Greek life parties at UMass are known to be potentially dangerous for students […] it normalizes sexual assault and other forms of violence as something that comes along with attending parties with friends. This should not be normalized or seen as a trade off for having fun.”
Others, like Lucia, believe that the issue is inherent in and symptomatic of Greek life in general. “I don’t really see how fraternities are essential to human existence in the university setting at all.” she said.
[Image: Protests outside of Theta Chi fraternity house. (McKenna Premus / UMass Daily Collegian)]
