The University of Virginia fraternity at the center of last year's controversial Rolling Stone report, "A Rape On Campus," has been officially reinstated, under guidance by local law enforcement officials. At the end of last year, UVA president Teresa Sullivan suspended the university's Greek organizations after the magazine reported on the campus's alleged sexual assault epidemic, focusing on a brutal gang rape that allegedly occurred at the Phi Kappa Psi house during the fall of 2012. On Monday, Phi Kappa Psi joined the other UVA fraternities that were reinstated this semester.
The New York Times reports that although the Charlottesville Police Department concurred with Sullivan's decision to reinstate the fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi remains under investigation:
The Charlottesville police are still investigating the claims and will be for a few weeks, a spokesman for the department, Capt. Gary Pleasants, said. “We just agreed with UVA that Phi Kappa Psi could be reinstated.”
Last week, Ms. Sullivan authorized addenda on alcohol use to the University’s Fraternal Organization Agreement that fraternities must sign by mid-month. The addenda ban kegs of beer and pre-made mixes of liquor and punch — often served to young women at parties — at fraternity parties and limits beer to closed cans. Further, at least one fraternity member must be sober at functions, in keeping with a trend on campuses that bystanders play a bigger role in preventing sexual assault.
Both UVA and Rolling Stone found themselves at the center of controversy following the release of reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely's exposé, which was called into question after the magazine announced that it had "misplaced" trust in a young woman identified as Jackie, whose account of being gang raped at Phi Kappa Psi anchored the report.
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