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Rachel Corley

Sheila Fielding

WRT103

October 9th, 2017

The Correlation between Sexual Assault and Fraternities

Life seems to be moving pretty fast when making that big jump from highschool to

college, and becomes even more overwhelming when considering rushing a fraternity. Theres

lots of benefits of becoming a brother such as seemingly unlimited access to alcohol, partying,

girls, and brotherhood. However, once initiated there comes the hazing, degradation of

women, and binge-drinking. Angela Carone writes an opinion piece, Fraternity Culture Linked

To College Sexual Assault Problem, exemplifying how fraternities are significantly responsible

for the sexual assault problem on college campuses through ethos, pathos, and logos.

The main argument in Fraternity Culture Linked To College Sexual Assault Problem by

Angela Carone states that fraternities are responsible for the sexual assault problem on many

college campuses. She states this through statistics, facts, and experts in the field, as well as

student who used to be and are currently in frats. The target audience is for people who want

more information about the correlation between sexual assault and fraternities on college

campuses. Carones article is scholarly and categorizes by topic. More specifically, it is

organized by different subheadings of the main category of sexual assault and frats, because each

heading builds off one another.

The author Angela Carone, a graduate of Penn State and Georgia State in both political

science and English literature, uses the credibility of other experts and her own research to prove

her argument and establish ethos. She incorporates evidence from both current students in
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fraternities and graduate students who used to be in a fraternities, experts in the field relating to

this topic, and the hands-on search shes discovered herself. Carone provides an interview

between an unnamed fraternity brother, Frank, and Dr. Liasak, an associate professor of

psychology at University of Massachusetts Boston, as evidence to show the true intentions of a

brother. She states, [talking about freshman girls] .they were easy prey, said Frank they

would get girls drunk with a special punch made of hard alcohol and fruit juice. He said there

were designated rooms in the fraternity house for sex, (Carone P. 2). Frank is a member of a

fraternity somewhere in the United States, and is an example of how fraternities target freshman

girls because theyre considered easy prey. This real life anecdote not only is alarming, but

makes it clear that brothers can be predators. This source of evidence helps conclude that

fraternities play a helping hand in sexual assault on college campuses.

Next, the author uses pathos to continue her argument. Carone continues to use Frank, the

unnamed brother, to evoke pathos in the reader. She says, We'd set aside a few rooms to bring

the girls up to when they were ready," Frank said. He then describes sexually assaulting a

woman in one of those rooms, even though he clearly didn't think of it as rape, (Carone P. 2).

The writer effectively reaches her audiences emotions through this quote because it conjures up

outrage. This could be a daughter, friend, or coworker that someone just casually and so easily

degrades. Franks anecdote shows the harsh reality of the rape culture in fraternities, which no

doubt adds to sexual assault problems on college campuses.

After, the author uses logos to further her argument. Carone uses statistics to parallel both

fraternities and sexual assault by stating, Two studies in 2007 and 2009 published in the

NASPA Journal suggest that fraternity members are more likely than non-fraternity members to

commit rape, (Carone P. 1). Most fraternities core values ironically revolve around
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responsibility, honor, integrity, and respect. What the fraternities dont say about themselves

when prospective students are thinking of rushing is the rape culture they harbor, and through

this quote it is indisputable that whatever they teach inside a fraternity is most certainly not

respect or integrity. Moreover, journalist Caitlin Flanagan spent a year investigating insurance

claims made against fraternities and says, She pointed to a 2010 analysis by a major fraternity

insurer that found sexual assaults accounted for 15 percent of the insurance claims filed against

fraternities, (Carone P. 3). This number is a shockingly low percent for the amount of rapes

committed by brothers, because women are afraid of being slut-shamed or just dont know they

can file against a fraternity. Both pieces of statistical evidence help add proof to the authors

argument of an existing relationship between brotherhood and sexual assault on college

campuses.

Overall, the importance of this matter is crucial to the safety and wellbeing of women on

college campuses. Therefore because these institutions indirectly promote violence and

degradation of women, its imperative there be reform to stop these acts from continuing. In

addition, to make her argument stronger the author concludes with Combating the Problem to

offer solutions to the problem. Fraternities are an outlet for predators to be able to commit acts of

violence against women and be backed with the support of the brothers. Universities and

colleges need to start addressing the sexual assault problems within fraternities to enact real

change. Keeping women safe needs to become prioritized.

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Works Cited

Fraternity Culture Linked To College Sexual Assault Problem. KPBS, 21 Oct. 2014,

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/oct/21/fraternities-and-campus-sexual-assault-problem/

Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.

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