Running head: SEXUAL ASSAULT AND FRATERNITIES 1

Sexual Assault and Fraternities

Colette P. Schalk

James Madison University

Author Note

Colette P. Schalk, Department of Psychology, James Madison University.

Colette P. Schalk is now at Department of Psychology, James Madison

University.

This research was part of the WRTC Line of Inquiry assignment.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Colette P. Schalk,

Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807.

Contact: cschalk@hcrhs.org
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Abstract

This paper explores all aspects of sexual assault on college campuses, specifically cases which

occur within fraternities. It first defines the issue and analyzes a multitude of sources. Then it

compares and contrasts theses sources. The paper concludes by the author giving his/her opinion

on the issue.

Keywords: sexual, assault, fraternities, issue, problems

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When I walk to class every day, I pass by numerous blue emergency lights.

Though these are just lights, they represent so much more. They remind me of every

woman who has ever been sexually assaulted, feeling so helpless and terrified at the

time. As a young woman attending James Madison University, a large university often

given the reputation of a party-school, I feel frightened by the possibility of sexual

assault. Though I have not experienced sexual assault myself nor know someone who

has, I know that sexual assault on college campuses is a growing problem and must be

addressed. However, many people disagree on how to go about this.

The question I analyzed when finding my sources was, Do fraternities contribute

to the sexual assault problems on college campuses? Many people believe that the

combination of alcohol, a large, crowded frat house, and a competitive, testosterone-

driven environment practically set up sexual assault to occur. They believe that

fraternities are significantly responsible for sexual assault, and people should target

these fraternities when looking for solutions. Other people believe that it is unfair to

target just fraternities, and that sexual assault is just as likely to be committed by non-

fraternity members as it is by fraternity members. They assert that universities should

address all students attending the university when looking for solutions.

Sexual assault generally refers to any crime in which the offender subjects the

victim to sexual touching that is unwanted and offensive. These crimes can range from

sexual groping or assault/battery, to attempted rape (Schwartz & Nogrady, 2014). In

recent years, this has become a rapidly increasing problem on college campuses and

has been highlighted by the media. According to P. Martin (2015) it is estimated that

the percentage of completed or attempted rape victimization among women in higher

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educational institutions may be between 20% and 25% over the course of a college

career (p. 37). This issue is important to the audience because the audience consists

of college age students, and some of them might even know someone who has

experienced sexual assault. It is a sensitive issue but also a very important and relevant

one.

In his article, Fraternities Should Not Be Blamed for the Campus Sexual Assault

Problem (2016), Blaize Stewart contends that fraternities should not be blamed for the

campus sexual assault problem. He claims that blaming fraternities is ineffective and

unfair, and only leaves other, bigger problems unresolved. It is a very serious problem

and should be handled in a serious matter, rather than just blaming someone because it

easy. The article (Stewart) further states that universities should instead be to blame for

handling the situation in a poor manner. Stewart presents his argument in a very

persuasive way and his purpose is to try and convince his readers to agree with him.

Stewart concludes that the solution to the sexual assault problem is to educate people,

especially university officials on how to handle sexual assault cases.

Next, in the article, Is College Sexual Assault a Fraternity Problem? (2015),

Anna North does not necessarily take a strong stance on whether or not fraternities are

to blame, but still addresses the problem and uses a few statistics to back this up. The

article (North) states that fraternities often have a very negative influence on the culture

of universities. However, North also highlights the importance of fraternities on the

development of mens identifies. In producing her augment, North includes quotes from

people on both sides of the issue. North concludes by stating that the solution to this

problem is to regulate fraternities and set guidelines rather than get rid of them
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Lastly, in the article, Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in 5 women is sexually

assaulted on campus. Should we ban frats? (2014), Jessica Valenti argues that

fraternities are definitely to blame for the sexual assault problem. She believes that

fraternities are incredibly dangerous, and should be banned. The article (Valenti)

includes multiple cases where women were sexually assaulted by the same fraternity.

The claims in the article are backed up with statistics and the purpose is to get the

readers to agree with Valenti. Valenti concludes by mentioning her ideas to try to ban

fraternities.

Blaize Stewarts piece parallels with Norths as they both agree that fraternities

should not entirely be blamed for the sexual assault problem. Stewart emphasizes how

it in unfair and unproductive to place the blame of fraternities. Using the entire Greek

system as a scapegoat for this issue is not the way to solve the growing problem of

sexual assault (Stewart, 2016). North agrees, claiming that it is a mistake to blame

fraternities. While fraternities and Greek life can definitely play a role in the problem of

sexual assault, its a mistake to focus on a few campus organizations at the expense of

others (North, 2015). Both authors also agree with how to deal with the issue, citing

education as one of the most imperative solutions. Stewart states that the blame should

be placed on the universities, The greater issue here is, what are college campuses

doing in order to stop the growing number of sexual assaults? They are the ones who

need to be held accountable for educating their students about this issue (Stewart,

2016). North agrees, claiming that an emphasis must be placed on educating students

on the bystander intervention and make students aware of the effects of sexual assault

on survivors and the needs of survivors. She also believes that prevention efforts should
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be open to contributions of fraternity members. Even if they arent quite as well versed

as, lets say, someone whos read a lot of feminist literature, getting them involved in the

conversation can be beneficial (North, 2015). Both sources clarify the significance of

this current issue, similarly covering how to deal with sexual assault problems on

college campuses.

Jessica Valenti and Blaize Stewarts articles are similar in that they both hold

very strong opinions on how to deal with sexual assault problems on college campuses.

As mentioned, Blaize Stewarts article, Fraternities Should Not Be Blamed for the

Campus Sexual Assault Problem, argues that it is unjust and unproductive to blame

fraternities for the sexual assault problem on college campuses. Valentis article, Frat

brothers rape 300% more. One in 5 women is sexually assaulted on campus. Should

we ban frats? argues that fraternities are incredibly dangerous, and should be banned.

Although these two articles argue different sides of the argument, they are actually very

similar in how they are produced. Stewarts argument contains very strong, denotative

words. In criticizing another article, he says, Before I dive into the ridiculousness of the

article, I want to make something very clear: by no means am I trying to defend men

who have committed these sexual assaults (Stewart, 2016). Words like

ridiculousness, absolutely not (paragraph 10), and terrible (paragraph 12) all give

the article a very persuasive tone. In a similar way, Valentis article contains very

intense language. Just in the title alone, frat brothers rape 300% more, is this

language seen. As the article progresses, there are words like touting (paragraph 5),

terrified (paragraph 9), and tremendously (paragraph 14). In both Valentis and
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Stewarts articles, this language strengthens the main idea and makes them more

convincing.

Jessica Valentis Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in 5 women is sexually

assaulted on campus. Should we ban frats? and Blaize Stewarts Fraternities Should

Not Be Blamed for the Campus Sexual Assault Problem differ in how Valenti believes it

would be beneficial to ban fraternities, while Stewart believes that this an unfair

approach to solve the campus sexual assault problem. Valenti presents her argument in

a very factual way; she includes many facts, quotes, and sexual assault cases. She

cites the reasons for her stance as the culture of fraternities, saying that fraternities are

hotbeds for all sorts of risk beyond sexual assault: theres also alcoholism, alcohol

poisoning, people falling out of windows and dangerous hazing incidents (Valenti,

2017). On the other hand, in Stewarts article, he talks about how this issue is not

exclusive to the Greek community, it is instead a campus problem. He claims, What

about the several other student organizations and sports teams which also consume

alcohol and throw parties? Are they omitted from the stigma of sexual assault because

they don't wear Greek letters? (Stewart, 2016). Stewart thinks that the reasons Valenti

comes up with are not valid, and feels as if fraternities are unfairly picked out. In

addition, Stewart believes that instead of blaming fraternities, universities should be the

ones to receive the blame. He argues, Simply blaming fraternities is a lazy, sad attempt

to address the issue of sexual assault. It is imperative to make sure schools do

everything possible to keep students, Greek and the unaffiliated, educated and aware

that sexual assault is a real and persistent issue on college campuses and elsewhere
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(Stewart, 2016). Both sources clarify the significance of this current issue, but disagree

on who to blame and how to solve it.

Blaize Stewarts Fraternities Should Not Be Blamed for the Campus Sexual

Assault Problem and Anna Norths Is College Sexual Assault a Fraternity Problem?

differ in that Stewarts article is much more opinionated, whereas Norths argument is

more neutral and mentions both sides of the argument, rather than taking a firm stance

on one viewpoint. As mentioned, Stewart and North both agree that sexual assault

problems should not be blamed on fraternities. Stewart is very direct about his

viewpoint, and he does not really consider the other side of the argument. He says,

Placing the blame for campus sexual assaults on fraternities is a misguided and

ineffective approach to addressing a very real, very serious problem (Stewart, 2016).

He states his point directly. On the other hand, North considers both sides of the

argument while making her point. She includes the statistics, Research has shown that

fraternity men are three times more likely to commit sexual assault than other college

men (North, 2015), which counters her argument. Including a counter argument proves

her argument to be more convincing because it shows that she is not biased and has

done research. Both sources argue the same thing, but go about it in different ways.

From writing this paper, I learned a lot about this issue that I did not know before.

The first thing that I learned was that sexual assault is a much bigger problem on

college campuses than I had realized. I always knew it was an issue, but the extent to

which it was I had not realized. I also never realized that fraternities had as much of a

correlation to these sexual assault cases as they did. Before I did research on this

issue, I did not agree that fraternities should be punished for the issue. Upon
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researching though, I realized that fraternities have a very negative impact on the

culture of universities. Studies show that fraternity members are more likely to commit

rape than non-fraternity members. Although I do not agree that fraternities should be

completely banned, I do agree that members need to be educated and more regulations

need to be in place.

Each one of my sources influenced my opinion in a different way. Blaize

Stewarts article did not convince me because he did not include enough statistics to

back up his claim. It seemed to me that he was more concerned with putting down the

other viewpoint than he was supporting his own. At first, I thought I would agree with

Stewart, but upon comparing other sources, I realized his argument was faulty. Anna

Norths article was very helpful, because it was more neutral so I could compare it to my

other sources to see how reliable they were. She seemed the least bias, so I could trust

her the most. Jenna Valentis article helped convince me that fraternities have a

negative influence. Her use of statistics made her claims seem more reliable so I was

more convinced. I strongly agree that fraternities almost allow for a rape culture to

develop. However, I did not agree with her that you can base your judgment of every

single fraternity by this. There are many fraternities that have very positive influences on

the university and the surrounding community. I think the best way to go about solving

this problem is to establish which fraternities need more guidance, and make rules and

regulations off of that.

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References

Carone, A. (2016). Fraternities are significantly responsible for the campus sexual

assault problem. In J. Lasky (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Sexual Assault on

Campus. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Fraternity Culture Linked to

College Sexual Assault Problem, KPBS.org, 2014, October 21) Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010984206/OVIC?u=viva_jmu&xid=6b06bb9f

Schwartz, M. D., & Nogrady, C. A. (1996). Fraternity membership, rape myths, and sexual

aggression on a college campus. Violence Against Women, 2(2), 148-162.

doi:10.1177/1077801296002002003

Stewart, B. (2016). Fraternities should not be blamed for the campus sexual assault problem. In J.

Lasky (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Sexual Assault on Campus. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven

Press. (Reprinted from Fraternities Should Not Be Scapegoats for the Issue of Assault, Odyssey,

2014, October 3) Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010984207/OVIC?u=viva_jmu&xid=9f28ae05

North, A. (2015, January 29). Is college sexual assault a fraternity problem? The New York Times.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMBW8LbOip0

Valenti, J. (2017, July 19). Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in 5 women is sexually assaulted on

campus. Should we ban frats? The Guardian. Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/24/rape-sexual-assault-ban-frats

Martin, P. Y. (2015). The rape prone culture of academic contexts. Gender & Society, 30(1), 30-43.

doi:10.1177/0891243215612708

KPBS News. (2014, October 17). Fraternity culture linked to college sexual assault problem [Video

file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMBW8LbOip0

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