Sara Rufael

Glenys Mcmennamy
Capstone-6
20 September 2016
Timed Writing #1
Although it is an uncomfortable subject, sexual assault on campus is becoming a national issue
and fraternities are at the forefront of this dialogue. While many attempt to divert the
conversation by focusing on the clothing and actions of the survivor, we must come to terms with
the fact that fraternities and hyper-masculine culture play a role in facilitating sexual assault/rape
and silencing victims on college campuses.
Despite the efforts of individual chapters, frat culture continues to promote ideas of
female objectification and sexual aggression that leads to sexual assault. It is telling that the
likelihood of being a victim of sexual assault is four times greater for a female college student
than for any other age group (Burnett). Not women age 19-22, but female college students
specifically are faced with higher chances of sexual assault. And when we analyze the tactics
used by fraternities, its quite easy to see why. A common staple of greek life is Little Sister
Programs, unofficial fraternity programs which enroll underclassmen in a manner similar to
fraternity rushing. However, instead of becoming official members of the fraternity, they are kept
as unofficial servers, entertainers, and baitfor the rush week parties and other social events
(Martin). A university official at Florida State University even said that the idea behind Little
Sisters was to attract frat members by saying, "we have the best looking women. Join us and you
can have them too"(Martin). By establishing establishing patriarchal roles from the very start and

capitalizing off of the commodification of female bodies, fraternities set a terrifying precedent
for their members and the respect they have for women.
Additionally, Alcohol is used as a weapon to disarm women and take the blame for sexual
assault off of the perpetrator. Drinking is as interwoven into college and frat lifestyles as rape
culture is. According to a poll of 1,053 current and recent college students, excessive drinking is
an important predictor of sexual assault (Brown). This idea is not limited to college students
either. Stuart Dunnings, a county prosecutor who presides over the Lansing, Michigan area
believes that alcohol is the date-rape drug(Brown). However, the fact that alcohol
consumption and sexual assault frequently co-occur does not demonstrate that alcohol causes
sexual assault (Abbey). Even though anyone would receive a punishment for driving or
committing vandalism or theft while drunk, alcohol is still used as a scapegoat for sexual assault.
In more malicious scenarios, victims themselves are blamed for drinking too much and being
unable to prevent their attack, rather than their attackers for committing it. Blaming their actions
on alcohol, or worse yet the alcohol consumption of the victim is yet another way Fraternities
avoid responsibility for rape on campus.
After the assault, Hyper-masculine societal standards excuse rapists, shame and silence
survivors and campus administration rarely takes action. Perhaps the fraternities biggest show of
unity in these horrific incidents is their commitment to silence. After a highly controversial rape
case involving multiple members of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at the University of Virginia
(UVA) in 2014, the Inter-fraternal Council of UVA forbade any fraternity member on campus
from speaking to anyone about the incident (Driver). This is an almost automatic maneuver for
most fraternities and points to their commitment to cover up any faults in their organization. No
matter what a brother is accused of, Members are reminded constantly to be loyal to the
fraternity and to their brothers The fraternity must be shielded from criticism (Martin). This

Code of Silence is key in putting pressure on the victim to keep quiet and keeping the rapist
from seeing any actual punishment.
The actions and methods described here do not attempt to describe every fraternity on
every college campus in America. Rather they attempt to pinpoint the over-arching themes of
fraternity culture and how they connect to sexual assault on campus. While fraternity members
and individual college students arent necessarily responsible for these crimes, they all have a
role in changing the culture that makes campuses into dangerous situations.

Works Cited

Abbey, Antonia. "Alcohol-related Sexual Assault: A Common Problem among College

Students." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Supplement J. Stud. Alcohol Suppl. S14 (2002):
118-28. Web.

Brown, Emma, Steve Hendrix, and Susan Svrluga. "Drinking Is Central to College Culture and
to Sexual Assault." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 14 June 2015. Web. 21 Sept.
2016.

Burnett, Ann, et al. "Communicating/muting date rape: A co-cultural theoretical analysis of

communication factors related to rape culture on a college campus." Journal of Applied
Communication Research 37.4 (2009): 465-485.

Driver, Alice. "Rape Culture on Campus: The Silence of Men." Al-Jazeera English. Al Jazeera
Media Network, 4 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

Martin, Patricia Yancey, and Robert A. Hummer. "Fraternities and rape on campus." Gender &
Society 3.4 (1989): 457-473.