The Student Printz March 27, 2017

Monday, March 27, 2017 Volume 101 Issue 44

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SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927

Community deserves clarity in sexual assault cases on campus.

student printz | editorial staff

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INTRODUCTION MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017

MEET THE STAFF SPRING 2017 Daisy Stutts

Cam Bonelli

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Executive Editor

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Sarah Anne Schloemer

Kaitlyn Watkins

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OPINIONS Opinions expressed in The Student Printz are those of the writer and not necessarily those of The Student Printz, its publication manager, USM, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the USM Board of Student Publications.

EDITORIAL POLICY The views represented in The Student Printz’s columns and editorials do not necessarily represent those of the faculty, staff or administration of The University of Southern Mississippi. We welcome letters to the editor representing similar and contrasting opinions. To be eligible for publication, all submissions must include name, class distinction, major, phone number and email address. Submissions should be emailed to printzeditors@gmail.com by 5 p.m. on the Friday before publication.

Please limit them to 500 words or less. The Student Printz reserves the right to refuse publication or edit any material on the basis of clarity, space or journalistic ethics.

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NEWS MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017

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Editorial: Community needs transparency Those who commit rape are not often locked away. Victims do not stop feeling its aftermath after the case is closed. Rape disrupts.

It changes people. It causes deterioration in victims’ mental health – depression, severe anxiety, new phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and other examples. Rape sometimes affects an individual for a lifetime.

A red shirt with smudgy letters that read, “What they said to me, ‘I thought you were asleep,’ ‘You were drunk,’ ‘You never said no before,’ Three different men, three different excuses,” fluttered in the breeze as it hung from a clothesline in Shoemaker Square on March 20.

Sixty-two similar shirts of various size and color accompanied the red shirt; each represented a person – a survivor of sexual or domestic abuse. Out in the breeze greeting passing students, the victims’ words and family members’ memorials to those whose lives ended in violence resounded in the spring sunlight.

Last week, for the third annual It’s On Us week, The Student Government Association partnered with several campus organizations to remind students that sexual assault is a prevalent issue on college campuses nationwide. In January 2017, within the first 21 days, two sexual assaults occurred on Southern Miss’ campus, resulting in one arrest and the other pending a decision from a grand jury.

However, the conversation about sexual assault awareness and prevention should not take precedence one week a year. It should not take an assault at a fraternity party to have students demand the university change its policy regarding clarity in sexual assault cases.

One sexual assault on campus is too many.

The Student Printz staff is a group of diverse individuals, Greek and non-Greek. Some have experienced sexual assault first hand, while others have friends who have experienced it.

When you see or hear someone defending rapists, remember: That person is sympathizing. That person is validating sexual assault. That person is asserting that a victim is at fault for a violating act he or she did not commit.

Victims on the Hattiesburg campus continue to feel the words and actions of their rapists. The University of Southern Mississippi’s Greek Life system has attempted to silence these victims by allegedly threatening them with fines or disciplinary actions if they do not remove related statements from social media. Let us presume this is to preserve Greek Life’s public image that has already been tarnished by all manner of toxic behavior. The Office would be met with less backlash if it admitted sexual assault is a danger students face on college campuses.

One interviewee recently pointed out that our university had more to do and say about the famed

Cam Bonelli | Printz fraternity-related flamingo death in 2014. Officials hit the kid with a felony charge. What results have we seen from the SAE rape case?

The fraternity was suspended from participating in Greek Life events, but they remained on campus and no arrests were made, a proverbial slap on the wrist for the assailants.

When the university fails to pursue appropriate actions against assailants and withholds information from the campus community, it affects us all.

Rape is not a simple crime. Rape robs people of their humanity and self-worth. After everything, people still blame the victims. People still ask for evidence. People still decide that “boys will be boys” and that men who are raped are no longer men. Victims begin to second guess themselves, not wanting to call it rape or not wanting to believe it happened to them – some of us of the Printz editorial staff know this too, because we live it every day.

Rape does not happen to someone once. Rape happens to a victim for months, years or a lifetime, depending on how fortunate or unfortunate they are. Their assailants are able to jettison their actions as if they never committed them because institutions and, more importantly, individuals have created a culture in which being a victim is somehow less dignified than being a rapist.

Admit that students are not safe on campus. Teach your children not to violate others. Deny rapists your friendship if you once called them friends. Listen to victims when they say something awful has happened.

Realize your public image is not sacred, especially when the health and safety of actual walking, talking, breathing human beings is at risk.

Redirect the broader conversation about sexual assault. Be critical of

yourself and your community and realize what is valid and what is not.

The Student Printz editorial staff stands with the campus community,

particularly those whom SAE fraternity members reportedly assaulted, drugged and barred in their fraternity house in October

2016. We will refuse all requests to back away.

Sincerely, The Student Printz Editorial Staff

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NEWS MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017

An open letter to USM ROBIN LEONARD

greek life member

Dear Dr. Thomas Burke: This letter is written on behalf of many members of the Southern Miss Community.

We are appealing to you to recognize and attend to our frustrations as a university community. On the night of October 29th, 2016, several incidents occurred at the Mississippi Sigma Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

Numerous police reports were filed following this night, including complaints of possible drug misuse, alcohol abuse, and sexual assault.

The volume and severity of these complaints led to an investigation involving University Police Department, The Office of Student Affairs, The Title IX Office and The Office of Greek Life. We are grateful that the bravery showcased by these alleged victims by coming forward was rewarded with such action. Our frustration now lies with everything that has occurred since the investigation was opened.

Communication with the student body, including the alleged victims, has been scarce and brief. The extent of direct communication with the Southern Miss Community has been two short memos, the last of which occurred on Dec. 5, 2016. These memos were sent via email exclusively to the Greek community. This is an issue of campus safety for all of

our students; many of those who are affected by these incidents are not even involved in a Greek organization, and were therefore left completely uninformed.

The date of the last memo is also alarming, as the investigation had not been closed yet. We have yet to receive an official, direct update on the investigation from the Administration.

In the spirit of It’s On Us Week, we have decided to implore you to help us achieve the three goals listed below, in order to repair the relationship between the Administration and the Southern Miss Community: Objective I. The Southern Miss Community requests a full report (barring violation of privacy policies regarding names and identifying details) to be publicly released before the end of the Spring 2017 semester, detailing the investigation regarding this specific case including description of any disciplinary action taken by the university and/or the national office for Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

Objective II. The Southern Miss Community wishes to establish a precedent, beginning with this case, of more open, informative, and efficient communication with the entire student body regarding all investigations that pertain to the safety of students on campus.

Objective III. The Southern Miss Community suggests a review and reevaluation of The Student Code of Conduct, including disciplinary

action procedures, especially as it pertains to student organizations.

In closing, we want to thank you.

We extend our deepest gratitude and respect toward The University Police Department, The Title IX Office, The Office of Greek Life, and to you. We recognize that taking this case seriously from the beginning and launching the investigation was a tolling task.

The Southern Miss Community has steady confidence that this issue can come to a resolve, and that from now on, such incidents will be handles with improved communication.

We are not seeking to demonize one fraternity, one section of the student body, or the Administration. We are simply trying to fulfill the mission we have all been tasked with: to leave Southern Miss better than we found it.

Thank you for listening, and we eagerly await your response.

Sincerely, The Southern Miss Community

University responds DR. THOMAS BURKE vice president of student affairs Dear Southern Miss Students: I have become aware that there are still questions related to the incident that occurred at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house on October 29, 2016. To the students who are concerned – this incident has my full attention. I have recently met with CPC and with IFC to listen and respond to suggestions for improvement of the Greek system. To the students who were involved – you have my deepest concern. It is important for me to be clear that the health and safety of each of you is our highest priority. Your well-being is not something that we take lightly.

I would like to summarize the University’s actions related to the reported incident involving the Mississippi Sigma Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon: The University Police Department (UPD) responded immediately to the initial incident report that was filed on October 30, 2016 and began an investigation.

On October 31, 2016 I sent an initial letter to the Mississippi Sigma Chapter indicating that all chapter activities were temporarily suspended pending an investigation of the allegations. In this letter I indicated that residents could remain in the house but that no chapter activities could occur either oncampus or off-campus.

On November 30, 2016 I sent a letter to all chapters and council leadership informing them that the Mississippi Sigma Chapter had to vacate its house until the SAE National Office came to campus to conduct a review of the chapter. At the time of this letter, there was no indication from the National Office that it would arrive before the 2017 spring semester.

Following my November 30 letter, I received a call from the SAE National Office indicating that it would be able to speed up its response and could have a representative on campus the second week in December.

Once my office met with a representative of SAE National on December 5, 2016 and once myself, the Dean of Students, and the Director of Greek Life met with the Alumni Advisory Board I then modified the temporary order to vacate the house and suspended all chapter activities until the conclusion of the Code of Student Conduct process through the office of the Dean of Students.

At the conclusion of UPD’s investigation, its report was forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Students for review under the Code of Student Conduct.

My office continued to engage the SAE National Office, the local Alumni Advisory Board, and the University’s Office of Greek Life to conduct a membership review of the fraternity. This review resulted in five members being expelled; five members being placed on early alum/inactive status, and 15 members being placed on probation. One additional member has been subsequently dismissed by the chapter.

The Office of the Dean of Students completed its review of issues under the Code of Student Conduct, which resulted in disciplinary actions based on two violations related to vandalism of University property and the presence of “community alcohol.”

The investigation of the chapter and any individuals affected did not produce medical evidence of other substances besides alcohol. Sanctions included, but were not limited to, the following: o The chapter was placed on disciplinary probation through the spring 2018 semester. o All chapter activities remain suspended through the end of the 2017 spring semester,

unless approved in advance by the Office of Greek Life. o The chapter must follow the directed leadership and membership redevelopment plan as developed by the fraternity’s leadership, SAE National Office, Graduate Advisory Board, Office of Greek Life, Fraternity/Sorority Committee, and Dean of Students office.

The incident was referred to the University’s Title IX Office for further investigation regarding an allegation of sexual assault by an individual student.

The Title IX Office’s investigation is still ongoing. Any findings from a Title IX investigation that merit additional review under the Code of Student Conduct will be referred to the Dean of Students office for possible disciplinary action.

The Office of Greek Life is continuing to monitor the chapter’s progress and will make recommendations to the Dean of Students concerning the future of chapter activities for the 2017-2018 academic year at the end of the 2017 spring semester.

We are unable to release details related to involved students, whose privacy is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). As previously stated, the investigation of the chapter and any individuals affected during the incident did not produce medical evidence of other substances besides alcohol, nor did UPD find evidence of other substances in a subsequent search of the SAE house. The individual who reported the incident did not press criminal charges, and the investigation did not produce evidence that resulted in any arrests.

Even though we cannot control the actions of individuals, the University is committed to doing all that we can to prevent this type of incident in the future. My office is working with the Office of General Counsel to review related policies and procedures and make changes that will assist in responding should other incidents occur.

We will be conducting a series of open sessions over the next few weeks that will be available to any students who have questions or concerns. The Office of Greek Life, the Office of the Dean of Students, and my office are encouraging students who have questions or concerns to contact us directly; I invite you to reach out to us if you would like to discuss any suggestions or questions you may have: Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost, 601.266.5020 Office of the Dean of Students, 601.266.6028 or dos@usm.edu Office of Greek Life, 601.266.4823 Once again, your safety and wellbeing is our highest priority, and we are committed to ongoing communication about this issue until we reach resolution.

Sincerely, Thomas H. Burke Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost

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NEWS MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017

‘We’ve been essentially silenced’

Student alleges Greek Life Office requests removal of media posts CAM BONELLI

executive editor

A week after The Student Government Association’s It’s On Us Campaign, dedicated to raising awareness of and preventing sexual assault, a student alleged that The University of Southern Mississippi Office of Greek Life is silencing sorority members who are speaking out on social media against the events that occurred at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon homecoming party in October 2016.

The investigation of the homecoming party by the National SAE office, in conjunction with the university, resulted in five SAE members’ expulsions from the fraternity and the assignment of various sanctions to 25 members. The university cannot release information about disciplinary actions doled to students due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of students’ educational records. According to FERPA, “education records” can refer to any “information directly related to a student and which are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.”

However, one anonymous student who attended the SAE party said several women involved in USM Greek Life feel mistrust and frustration toward the university and The Office of Greek Life.

“Lack of communication is one problem,” she said. “The other problem is that we’ve been silenced, essentially.

People have been trying to post about it on social media, and The Office of Greek Life has contacted people saying, ‘We strongly suggest that you take this down, as there may be disciplinary actions if you don’t.’ Women are scared that they may receive a fine or be kicked out of Greek Life.”

A representative of The Office of Greek Life allegedly indirectly contacted persons involved in Greek Life who posted to social media about the incident, asking them to remove the posts because of the nature of the situation, according to the student.

The student said another issue with how the university has handled the incident is that there was some information never made public by the university to the Southern Miss community.

“A lot of things actually happened at that party,” she said. “It wasn’t just that women were feeling weird or fainting.”

According to her, a physical fight broke out between some of the men in the house and moved to the front yard. SAE members allegedly gathered around the fight. The student said since it was homecoming and there were other parties on Fraternity Row, UPD was patrolling the area.

“The cops saw this fight and approached the house,” she said.

“When the cops decided to approach the fight, members of SAE decided to bar the doors so people wouldn’t leave the house. If a fight breaks out or in a bad situation, women tend to leave.

I have friends who were trying to get me out. Members of the fraternity were blocking the doors physically so that women would not leave. There was no way to get out. It’s nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

The student said this could constitute kidnapping and she was shocked that no one reported it.

According to Mississippi Code Ann §97-3-53 kidnapping is when an individual “with or without intent to secretly confine, forcibly seizes and confines any other person, or kidnaps any other person with intent to cause victim to be confined or imprisoned against his or her will.”

The student said many of the women affected by the incident did not file police reports.

“During the 24 hours during and following the party, between six and 10 women, at least, were hospitalized, and at least five more women – who I know personally – did not go to the hospital, but should have, because they were experiencing the same symptoms the hospitalized women did.”

According to her, not all of the women affected were in Greek Life or from the same sorority, and more women than was stated in the police reports were affected by drugged drinks.

“Some women who were admitted to the hospital were too scared to file police reports, so the number of police reports is the smallest statistic you have, and then you have the amount of women who were admitted to the hospital,” she said. “Then you have the amount of women who never really told anyone official.”

The student said she was personally affected by the beverage served at the SAE party.

“My memory cuts out at a certain point,” she said. “The people that I went to the party with were able to account for every moment of me being at the party. They were not drinking and came along for the music.”

The student said this was not her first experience at a fraternity party and that the beverage served should not have affected so many women with the kind of symptoms she experienced.

“I experienced symptoms after half a drink,” she said. “I have been to enough fraternity parties to know that the kind of stuff they serve, they shouldn’t have caused those effects. It wasn’t nausea, and I wasn’t throwing up. My brain got foggy and I had trouble with my speech.

I had the shakes for days afterwards.

My sober friends that were with me said they were shocked that I didn’t remember anything, because I only had one drink at the party. I’ve never experienced blacking out on campus.”

The student said she had never experienced symptoms from consuming alcohol at a fraternity party.

“In my years attending Southern Miss, never have this many women been this seriously affected, and never have this many women been affected by such a small amount of drink,” she said. “I usually have four or five drinks,

and I don’t lose my memory. I know for sure half a drink or one drink should not have done anything to me, much less done something that would have affected me for a week afterward.”

She said students who were affected experienced symptoms four days after ingesting the drink.

“I know that a lot of women went to the hospital during the party and after the party,” she said. “After a couple of hours and after eating a meal, I was still shaking so bad I couldn’t drive. I am a very literate speaker. I have done public speaking my whole life. I couldn’t get a word out. I was experiencing shortterm memory loss. I would put my keys down and not remember where I had put them five minutes later. These were consistent symptoms between many women who were hospitalized and who had stayed home and tried to ride it out.

I was talking to women four days later who still had the shakes.”

According to WomensHealth.gov, depending on the type of date-rape drug used, persons who ingest them experience loss of motor functions, tremors, dream-like feeling, coma, loss of consciousness, problems talking and, in extreme cases, death.

The student said each affected woman consistently experienced the same symptoms and that their stories were similar.

“When I spoke to the police, they said that from what multiple women were describing, they were almost positive there was a drug in the drink,” she said. “The kind of drugs that were supposedly used – date-rape drugs – if you use the bathroom once after you ingest it, they can be out of your system even if you still experience the symptoms.”

The police report stated that no drugs were detected in the urinalysis samples.

However, according to WomensHealth. gov, date-rape drugs leave the body quickly and that women who believe they have been drugged should not urinate before going to the hospital.

The website also states that date rape drugs can remain in the body from 12 to 72 hours, depending on the type of drug used.

The student said only women who attended the SAE party were affected.

“No one who went to other houses experienced those symptoms,” she said.

“No one has filed complaints against any other fraternities. I can speak for myself and say I only went to SAE that night.”

According to her, many students stayed at SAE’s party because a popular band played.

“The Prom Nights were at SAE, and they are a very popular band,” she said.

“I went to see the band, and there wasn’t a lot of party hopping between other fraternities. Once the band started playing, there wasn’t a lot of leaving.

I have not heard from a single other woman who went to other fraternity parties that felt bad the next day.”

The Office of Greek Life’s initial letter to the Greek community dated Nov. 30, 2016 stated that members of the

Southern Miss chapter of SAE were “to vacate its fraternity house at the end of the fall 2016 semester, pending the investigation of several violations of the Student Code of Conduct.” Activities by members of the fraternity were suspended as well, and, in coordination with the National SAE Office, the university announced it would conduct a review of the chapter in spring 2017.

However, on Dec. 5, 2016, Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost Thomas Burke stated in a letter that it would allow SAE members to remain on campus in the fraternity house, after meeting with the Associate Executive Director of Chapter Development for the National Office of SAE. The student said when the Office of Greek Life reversed its decision to allow SAE to remain on campus, many

sorority women felt betrayed.

“If the university is going to decide on a whim whether to close or open a chapter pending an investigation, there should be something concrete,” she said. “Every single time this happens, there should be a procedure outlined that says it’s going to happen like this. The procedures [the university] decides on should be publicized. I had an issue with the fact that seemed like [the university] couldn’t make up their minds, and there should be something in the Student Code of Conduct that outlines this.”

A male USM student who wished to remain anonymous said most fraternity members do not condone this behavior and are “disgusted.” continued online |

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NEWS MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017

Editor’s Note: On publishing police reports Several redactions as well as full page redactions appear throughout the report to protect the victims, witnesses and the accused.The University of Southern Mississippi is unable to release this information as it is an “educational record” as defined by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Under FERPA, educational records constitute any “information

directly related to a student and which are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.”

The students involved in this case are protected by FERPA and Title IX and without consent of the student, this information cannot be released.

This police report is not the full investigative report. According to the

Title IX office, pages with information exempt from disclosure and/or are protected by federal law were removed from the report. The university will not release any other reports regarding the case, according to a university official.

At the request of the victim, several parts of the report have been retracted, due to the sensitive nature of its

material.

The victim of the reported sexual assault at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Oct. 30, 2016 homecoming party stated this in regards to the publication of the police report: “I just want you to know that having this published is honestly so painful. My business becoming public entertainment is disgusting.

I do not believe that it is at all necessary for the public to know any more details than they already do. What the students of this school and members of community need to know is this: a woman was sexually assaulted at Sigma Alpha Epsilon that night. Sharing the details of my report is unnecessary and causes prolonged pain for me.”

continued on | page 7

Courtesy Photo |

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NEWS MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 continued from | page 6

police report continued online |

Courtesy Photo |

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