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De Fraterno Amore: Sexual Violence in Fraternities
In the second week of September, a former Cornell University student known only as “Jane Doe” filed a civil complaint against the prestigious Ivy League school and seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity’s Xi chapter. She alleged that she was gang-raped by several men in Cornell’s Chi Phi house in October of 2024. According to Jane Doe’s statement, by the time she had ended up at Chi Phi’s fraternity house, she had been heavily intoxicated after being served alcoholic beverages at Moonies Bar & Nightclub. At Chi Phi, Jane Doe was pressured by fraternity brothers to consume drugs and liquor; the suit claims that one fraternity brother forced the victim to snort ketamine off of his erect penis. The young woman had endured several hours of brutal sexual assault, the fraternity members violating every part of her semi-conscious body.
Whilst the violent attack was reported to both the campus and Ithaca police a week after the gang-rape allegedly took place, the tragic story of Cornell’s Jane Doe was forgotten until this month, when her attorneys filed the civil suit. The horrific details of the sexual assault were made public, as well as the shocking actions taken by Cornell University. The fraternity members involved in the crime were initially suspended, but only two of the seven alleged rapists were expelled. The five remaining fraternity brothers wrote essays as their punishment, and the tragedy was concealed.
None of the fraternity brothers were arrested.
Their names are Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar.
Following the assault, the lack of support from Cornell, the neglect of the Ithaca police department, and the dereliction of the district attorney, Jane Doe withdrew from the university. She is now suing Cornell University, the Chi Phi fraternity, Moonies, and several related organisations to seek justice.
One of the first pieces of evidence that went viral is a picture of a disturbing Snapchat message sent to Chi Phi’s Xi chapter on October 20, 2024, at 1:42 am.
The message read: “Free pussy in alum.”
It was allegedly referring to the drugged Jane Doe, who was actively being raped at the time.
Messages responding to the initial text said, “I fucking love Chi Phi,” and “Like you can walk in and whip it out.”
The public’s disgust is clear and justifiable. However, there is no surprise. Cornell’s Jane Doe is one of hundreds of women to be sexually attacked by fraternity members in the United States. According to a study published in 2007, fraternity men are three times more likely to commit rape.
I will repeat that outrageous statistic.
Fraternity brothers rape 300% more.
If the data and analysis are essentially saying that fraternities breed rapists, then why does American Higher Education continue to not only allow such organisations to exist, but endorse and promote them?
The surface-level answer is that Greek Life is a deeply embedded cultural staple of the United States. According to the North American Interfraternity, 44% of U.S. Presidents and the majority of politicians have been involved in Greek Life. The first Greek-letter college fraternity was established at the College of William and Mary as early as 1776. Five friends and students at William and Mary who wanted to meet in secret and discuss the heated Revolutionary War founded Phi Beta Kappa, which by the 19th century evolved from a traditional fraternity into a prestigious honour society for excelling university students.
However, the belief that fraternities and sororities are a uniquely American phenomenon is false. American Greek Life traces its origins to student associations in European universities. As Andrew Thomas Bell argues, because the United States college and university system “is a direct result of European education models,” it would be “counterintuitive” to believe “that this is a system exclusively associated with American Higher Education.” For example, the University of Oxford is infamous for the Bullingdon Club, established in 1780, which included high-status members such as Boris Johnson and David Cameron, and has had its share of scandals as well.
However, the national spread of Greek Life in the United States and Canada is distinctive. Purportedly, Greek Life has organisations at more than 600 colleges across North America, including 60 national fraternities and 30 national sororities. Even at universities that don't have the classic American college campus Hollywood so often shows, Greek Life still flourishes in the background.
Many members of fraternities and sororities claim they join these organisations to network for their careers, participate in philanthropy, or build “real-world skills” such as leadership, budgeting, and organisation. To claim they are lying would be insincere. Studies show that these goals are attainable through Greek Life. They also join Greek Life to find a tight-knit community, believing that they are more than just friends. They are brothers and sisters, bound by rituals and traditions of their Greek letters, and by “fraterno and sororio amore.” However, it would also be disingenuous to ignore all of the social aspects of fraternities and sororities that entice young college students to join, including the feeling of popularity, exclusivity, and a very full party life filled with copious amounts of drugs and alcohol.
That party scene can become a hotbed for sexual violence against women. It often does. While it is unclear whether Jane Doe’s attack at Cornell was pre-planned or an impulsive and repulsive decision made by the seven men, the past few decades have demonstrated that rape culture is rampant in American fraternities. At Georgia Tech, a fraternity brother sent around an email labelled “Luring your Rapebait.” At Wesleyan, there was a fraternity with the nickname “Rape Factory.” Swarthmore College received documents where a fraternity referenced a “rape attic.” Yale University witnessed a bold parade of fraternity brothers chanting “No means yes, yes means anal.”
Every time a sexually violent incident occurs, whether that be a rape or the discovery of crimes through written material, the fraternity chapter is penalised, the boys are potentially punished, there are a few public articles in the media, and the universities move on.
Eventually, chapters get reinstated, the boys continue with their lives or their studies, the media forgets about the scandals, and the universities sigh in relief and pretend the violence never occurred in the first place.
We have been having these discussions for years with no solutions and no improvements. Perhaps it is time we join Cornell University’s Jane Doe in her bravery and strength and finally make a drastic change that is so desperately needed to protect women from sexual violence in American Greek Life.
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