Dive Brief:
- The University of Virginia has reinstated all Greek organization social activities and is requiring each fraternity and sorority to sign off on new safety measures by Jan. 16.
- The university’s president, Teresa Sullivan, said the new safety measures and their effectiveness will be evaluated during the new semester.
- Among the safety measures: Each fraternity and sorority will have to complete educational programs on hazing, sexual assault prevention and bystander intervention, discrimination, and drug and alcohol abuse.
Dive Insight:
The Greek social activities were suspended in November in the aftermath of a controversial Rolling Stone article that described a gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity — an alleged incident that may have actually never happened, according to the Washington Post. While the key anecdote from the Rolling Stone article has been discredited, the general issues of sexual assault and alcohol abuse at the university were seen as legitimate problems that the university needed to address. Other college administrators may look to the University of Virginia’s new rules for examples of how they might reform their own Greek systems.