 Last month, Rolling Stone published a story entitled A Rape on Campus, which described a brutal gang rape of a woman named Jackie during a party at a University of Virginia fraternity house, the University's failure to respond to this alleged assault – and the school's troubling history of indifference to many other instances of alleged sexual assaults. 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. UVA President Teresa Sullivan said the ban would be lifted, as long as the organizations signed onto the new regulations meant to guard against excessive drinking and the risk of sexual violence. 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.
– No kegs, strictly enforced guest lists, and at least three "sober and lucid" monitors is the new normal for fraternity and sorority parties at the University of Virginia. President Teresa Sullivan yesterday announced the changes to the university's Fraternal Organization Agreement and said the school would lift a ban on social events—but only if groups agree to the new safety regulations, the AP reports. Each chapter has until Jan. 16 to sign off on the new regulations, adds the Washington Post.The university had instituted the ban after a November Rolling Stone article (since found to have "discrepancies") alleged that a student had been raped at a 2012 frat party and that university response had been lacking, Reuters notes. The new rules maintain that one of the sober monitors—all of whom must wear a label identifying them as such—must be posted where alcohol is being served, while another is required to keep tabs on any staircases leading to bedrooms and have "immediate key access to each room" of the fraternity house, the Post notes. Premixed drinks or any other "common source of alcohol" (including kegs) is prohibited; beer can be doled out in unopened cans, but wine can be poured and served only by a sober monitor. And that's if guests make it into the party: Under a section titled "Eliminating Discomfort and Chaos: Entry Management" is a mandate for a hired security guard at the entry door to check guest lists during "Tier I" events (larger parties); a frat member can monitor the list during smaller "Tier II" events. (A Slate columnist came under fire for linking rape to women's drinking.)