Federal Lawsuit Says Wesleyan Failed To Protect Woman From Assault At Fraternity House Called A 'Rape Factory' 
 
 Former Student's Lawsuit Names University, Fraternity, Property Owner As Defendants 
 
 The 27-page lawsuit, filed electronically Friday at U.S. District Court in Connecticut by a Maryland woman identified as "Jane Doe," charges Wesleyan with violating Title IX, the federal gender-equity law, by failing "to supervise, discipline, warn or take other corrective action" against the Mu Epsilon chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, actions that it says could have prevented the assault. The lawsuit says the student was raped. 
 
 MIDDLETOWN — A former Wesleyan University student who was assaulted two years ago during a Halloween fraternity party filed a federal lawsuit Friday accusing the school of failing to protect her from dangers at the fraternity, which she claims was known on campus as the "Rape Factory." 
 
 Jane Doe, after reporting the incident, became a target of those who protested a recommendation by Wesleyan officials that students avoid the fraternity, the lawsuit says. They chanted "Free Beta" outside her dorm and other places she was at on campus, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 "Wesleyan did nothing to prevent, and was deliberately indifferent to the harm caused to Jane Doe by the rape and outrageous sexual harassment and intimidation that followed her everywhere on campus," the lawsuit says. 
 
 The school, it says, "acted with deliberate indifference towards the rights of Jane Doe and other female students to a safe and secure education environment thus materially impairing Jane Doe's ability to pursue her education at Wesleyan in violation of the requirements of Title IX." 
 
 In the lawsuit, Beta Theta Pi is depicted as a troubled place with "a long-documented history of dangerous misconduct, student injuries and numerous sexual assaults of women." The lawsuit says the chapter lost its recognition from Wesleyan as a student organization in 2005 and instead gained "the reputation in the Wesleyan community as the 'Rape Factory.'" 
 
 The lawsuit says that Wesleyan warned students in an email in March 2010 to stay away from the fraternity, saying that the school "could not ensure students' safety on the premises." 
 
 Jane Doe, a freshman in the fall of 2010, was unaware of that warning from seven months earlier and went to the frat house's Halloween party on Oct. 30, 2010, and was raped in a locked room, the lawsuit says. 
 
 She charges in the lawsuit that she told the resident assistant in her dorm about the assault the next day, Oct. 31, but that the resident assistant did not call police, campus safety officials or school administrators. 
 
 Jane Doe was unable to officially report the assault until Nov. 1, 2010, because the student health services were closed on Oct. 31, 2010, which was a Sunday, the suit said. 
 
 "Wesleyan advised that she could go to the hospital, but offered neither transportation or accompaniment," the lawsuit says. "Wesleyan did not contact its rape counselor … offer any other services or other academic help" to Jane Doe. 
 
 According to the lawsuit, following Jane Doe's reporting of the incident to Wesleyan, school officials again advised in a campuswide email that students stay away from the frat house. In early 2011, the school terminated the fraternity's status as program housing. Eventually, Jane Doe's identity became known on campus and those angry about the ban on the fraternity staged protests at the woman's dorm and at other places on campus, the suit says. ||||| New safety rules for fraternities at the University of Virginia would require at least three “sober and lucid” members to monitor behavior at parties, prohibit pre-mixed alcoholic drinks and implement guest lists to control entry to the houses during an event. 
 
 The rules, made public Tuesday, also stipulate that one of the sober party monitors must be posted at a staircase leading to bedrooms and have “immediate key access to each room” in the house. That measure appears designed to prevent situations that could lead to sexual assault at U-Va’s fraternities. 
 
 The safety initiative arose in response to a Rolling Stone magazine article in November that depicted a female student saying she was gang-raped at a fraternity house during her freshman year. That article unraveled last month as key elements of the rape allegation fell into doubt and the magazine’s managing editor apologized for journalistic lapses. 
 
 But university officials and leaders of Greek organizations, among others in the U-Va. community, pledged to continue a push to improve safety at U-Va. regardless. 
 
 With that in mind, the university unveiled an addendum to its “fraternal organization agreement” with 31 chapters belonging to U-Va.’s Inter-Fraternity Council. Of those, 28 have houses, which are often the scene of parties where alcohol is available. 
 
 At the same time, the university released another safety addendum for its agreements with sororities and fraternities that belong to other Greek councils. That document promises steps to promote “bystander intervention” — a method of preventing sexual violence — as well as educational programs on alcohol use and safe parties. 
 
 On Nov. 22, three days after the Rolling Stone article appeared, U-Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan announced a suspension of social activities for campus Greek organizations. On Tuesday, Sullivan said the suspension would be lifted immediately, on condition that each chapter agree to the new safety provisions by Jan. 16, the second day of fraternity spring rush. 
 
 “I believe the new safety measures recommended by the student leaders in the Greek community will help provide a safer environment for their members and guests,” Sullivan said in a statement. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our student leaders who have worked so diligently in the past several weeks to bring forth substantive recommendations and improvements consistent with the ideals of our community of trust.” 
 
 IFC President Tommy Reid credited numerous fraternity and sorority members, among others, for working “around the clock for the past month and half to develop these improvements to our system.” The council, he said, “is excited for the spring semester and looks forward to continuing to lead the advancement of student safety at the university.” 
 
 It is unclear how the new rules for the IFC will change the party culture at Virginia’s flagship public university. J. Marshall Pattie, an associate dean of students, said some of the provisions — such as sober party monitors — already have been customary. 
 
 Now there will be a standard protocol: At least three “sober brothers” on duty at all parties, with more required as needed. At least one monitor must be stationed wherever alcohol is distributed, and at least one must be at the staircase. The monitors also must wear something that identifies them — with the identification common for all chapters. 
 
 On alcohol, the rules say that beer can be served in unopened cans and that wine can be served if visibly poured by a sober fraternity member. Prohibited are “pre-mixed drinks, punches or any other common source of alcohol.” That means no beer kegs. Hard liquor can be served at large events if a fraternity hires a bartender through a company with a state license, or at smaller events if bottles are placed at a bar overseen by a sober monitor. 
 
 The documents released Tuesday make scant mention of laws against serving alcohol to people under the age of 21. Underlying the rules there appears to be an assumption that college students will drink at parties, regardless of the law, and that the university should try to make those parties as safe as possible. 
 
 On guest lists, Pattie said fraternities often have had such controls but that enforcement has varied. Sometimes, he said, a fraternity member might have asked a brother to wave somebody into a party who was not on the list. The new rules will call for a hired security agent to be stationed at the door during large parties to check guest lists. At smaller parties, a fraternity member will check the list. 
 
 These provisions are described in a section of the rules headlined, “Eliminating discomfort and chaos: Entry management.”
– Frat-house accidents and sexual assaults are getting so common they're impossible to ignore—but how did it get this bad, and why does it keep happening? In an extensive Atlantic piece, Caitlin Flanagan looks at the history of fraternities and their myriad ways of avoiding legal obligations for what goes on behind closed doors. As Bloomberg reported, 60 students have died in frat-related incidents since 2005, a fact "that is dwarfed by the numbers of serious injuries, assaults, and sexual crimes that regularly take place in these houses," writes Flanagan. She chronicles a few incidents, from a freshman girl's heinous rape at Wesleyan University to a young man who fired a bottle rocket out of his butt at Marshall University—and the guy who fell off a deck videotaping it, and later sued Alpha Tau Omega for his injuries. To avoid financial ruin, fraternities have merged into "vast national organizations" that buy liability insurance, and they've created rules about alcohol consumption that are nearly impossible for party-lovers to follow—so when the inevitable lawsuits come, frat members are considered at fault for breaking the rules. That means their soon-to-be-retired parents pay extensive legal bills, and parents' homeowners insurance often pays settlements. So why do universities allow this perilous environment to persist? Largely because fraternity dorms save schools "untold millions of dollars" in housing, writes Flanagan, and the frat-house party image helps lure students into expensive universities. To be fair, advocates also describe the positives—like increased confidence, brotherhood, and leadership training. But parents should know the dangers: "Until proven otherwise," a lawyer tells Flanagan, "they all are very risky organizations for young people to be involved in." Click for her full piece.