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EDITORIAL: Entire MU Annual Gallery community must address Night and Day sexual assaults showcases art in shops, businesses PAGE 8
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Volume 98, Number 54
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
www.marquettewire.org/tribune
3 fraternities issued warnings
New policy on religious holidays considered
Triangle, Delta Chi, Sigma Phi Delta reviewed for crimes By Matthew Kulling
By Joe Kvartunas
matthew.kulling@marquette.edu
Marquette Interfraternity Council was not prepared to comment on three separate cases of sexual assault and one case of hazing Monday, nearly two weeks after the Division of Student Affairs issued official warnings April 9. Alex Landry, senior in College of Business Administration and president of IFC, said the group will be issuing a statement later this week. Each incident was immediately reported to the Department of Public Safety and the Milwaukee Police Department, and the investigations are ongoing. Marya Leatherwood, assistant vice president for student affairs, said in an email that the chapters of Triangle, Delta Chi and Sigma Phi Delta were issued warning for sexual misconduct with Sigma Phil Delta also receiving a warning for hazing.
joseph.kvartunas@marquette.edu
Photos by Xidan Zhang/xidan.zhang@marquette.edu
Delta Chi, Sigma Phi Delta and the Triangle fraternities were all issued warnings by the Division of Student Affairs after three separate cases of sexual misconduct and one instance of hazing was reported on campus.
The official warnings mean that any violations of either Greek policies or student codes of conduct will result in immediate suspension of all activities, pending the outcomes of an investigation into the incidents. “We expect all of our students
to uphold Marquette’s Catholic and Jesuit values and to contribute to a safe and respectful environment,” Leatherwood said in an email. “We take any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously.” Russell Shaw, interim
director for DPS, said hazing is a serious offense. “Hazing is actually classified as a crime… but there are different factors to every hazing situation,” Shaw said. “They See Greek, Page 4
MU to participate in fourth Denim Day Awareness month aims to adjust views on sexual assaults By Natalie Wickman
natalie.wickman@marquette.edu
Wednesday will mark Marquette’s fourth annual Denim Day, an event during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Margaret Callahan, interim provost and dean of the College of Nursing, said Mayor Tom Barrett requested Milwaukee’s involvement in the day to change attitudes and stigmas around sexual assault and support sexual violence survivors. The provost office’s staff, as well as the rest of the Marquette community, is encouraged to wear denim jeans to show their support. “It’s an everyday thing -- we all wear jeans -- but Denim Day can symbolize the fact that it’s so often in the every day that
people are blaming victims,” said Susannah Bartlow, director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. “Nothing excuses sexual assault and there’s no victim behavior that can excuse a perpetrator’s action.” Denim Day first began after an 18-year-old Italian woman was raped by her 45-year-old driving instructor in 1997. The convicted instructor appealed the sentence and the case went to the Italian Supreme Court where the it was overturned. The decision was made because the woman was wearing very tight jeans, which she had to help her perpetrator remove. The head judge interpreted the act as consent. After the verdict, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans on the steps of the Italian Parliament building. “Nationally, one in four women will be the victim of sexual assault during her four years at college,” Callahan said in an email. “Since sexual violence is one of the most under-reported
INDEX
CALENDAR...........................2 DPS REPORTS......................2 CLASSIFIEDS........................5
MARQUEE...................6 VIEWPOINTS..............8 SPORTS.......................10
Ahlam Ayesh, a senior in the College of Health Sciences and a practicing Muslim, always loved Marquette, but said she began to feel dissatisfied with the university upon discovering that it did not have a policy that would guarantee her an excused absence on non-Christian religious holidays. In October, she was planning to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the most important Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan, with her family and the rest of the Muslim community in Milwaukee. Although she gave her professor more than a week’s notice, she was told that she would have to miss prayer with the Muslim community because her professor would not let her skip, and later make-up, lab that day. Frustrated by her situation, Ayesh went looking for a solution only to discover the university policy addressing the religious observances of non-Christian students does not mandate students be excused to celebrate their holy days. She also discovered that her incident was not an isolated one within Marquette’s Muslim community. Ayesh then set about trying to change the rules so that situations like this would not happen again. “I made a goal for myself that I refused to graduate before there is somethingimplemented,somesortof policy,” Ayesh said. While the university does not have a policy to address classes missed due to religious observances, the university Campus Ministry sends out a letter to professors at the beginning of each semester encouraging them to work with students over these potential conflicts in accordance with the university’s interest in encouraging students to freely practice their faith. Ayesh said she does not want the university to implement a policy that completely absolves students of all class responsibilities on religious holidays, but wants to make sure that students who properly inform their instructors of a scheduling conflict are given the opportunity to make up for an absence. This sort of policy would help to accommodate religions, such as Islam, that follow different calendars, and thus see
and least talked about crimes in the nation, Denim Day gives the Marquette community a chance to visually show support for survivors of sexual assault, and to help create changes in attitudes toward sexual assault and all types of sexual violence.” Scott Kuykendal, associate director of athletic communications, said members of the athletics staff will participate in the day to bring attention to all types of sexual violence and display support for sexual assault survivors. This year’s Sexual Assault Month also saw the completion of a study on “Normalizing Sexual Violence” by Heather Hlavka, assistant professor of sociology, which will appear in the next issue of the academic journal, Gender & Society. According to MSNBC, Hlavka found that objectification, sexual harassment and abuse are everyday experiences for many young women between the ages of three and 17. “Some girls belittled others’
experiences, holding them responsible for their victimizations,” Hlavka wrote in her study. “Girls were criticized for not successfully maneuvering men’s aggressive behavior. Others didn’t report violence because they didn’t want to make a ‘big deal’ of their experiences.” The university’s annual participation in Denim Day began in April 2011. “The symbolism of the jeans is that we stand in solidarity with people who understand that nothing excuses sexual assault and there’s no victim behavior that can excuse a perpetrator’s action,” Bartlow said. In addition to the educational efforts, the Center for Teaching and Learning will host a presentation for faculty on supporting students who report sexual assault Tuesday from 12:30 – 2 p.m. in Raynor Memorial Libraries, Study Room D on the lower level.
NEWS
VIEWPOINTS
SPORTS
Killed the Cat
Fransen
Leary
When can Marquette read students’ emails? PAGE 4
See Holiday, Page 4
MU’s mentoring program gives students a new perspective. PAGE 8
MU benefits from Williams leaving prior to 2014-15 season. PAGE 11