Economy

Another Fraternity is in Trouble for Sexually Deviant Behavior

March 17th 2015

Another week, another fraternity controversy. Penn State University's Kappa Delta Rho (KDR) fraternity has been suspended for reportedly posting nude and partially nude photos of women on a private Facebook group. In some pictures, the females appear to be sleeping or passed out, according to CNN. Penn State's Interfraternity Council announced Tuesday that the fraternity will be suspended for a year. 

State College Police and university officials are investigating the Facebook page, which has more than 140 members who are current and former students. Authorities were tipped off to the page after a former member said it had pictures of "unsuspecting victims, drug sales, and hazing."

"The evidence offered by the Facebook postings is appalling, offensive, and inconsistent with the University community's values and expectations," Damon Sims, Vice President for Student Affairs, wrote in a statement.

Last year, Penn State was named by the Department of Education as one of the universities being investigated for mishandling sexual assault cases. Under Title IX, universities receiving public funding must comply with certain standards related to the disposition of sexual assault accusations reported by students. A 2007 study commissioned by the Justice Department found that one in five women are sexually assaulted in college. Yet, a more recent government study from last year found that 41 percent of colleges and universities had not investigated a single instance of sexual assault for the previous five years.

David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in St. Louis, told CNN that the KDR incident is just another example of unacceptable sexual behavior at Penn State, which was rocked with controversy in 2012 after former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted and sentenced to prison for molesting dozens of boys. 

"The Kappa Delta Rho is a wake up call," Clohessy told CNN. "But the Sandusky case should have been a wake up call too."

This news comes just a week following the University of Oklahoma's Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) scandal. At the beginning of last week, a video of SAE brothers chanting a racist song went viral online, resulting in two expulsions and the suspension of the fraternity. Although the expelled students issue apologies for their words, the fraternity hired a lawyer and threatened to take further action against OU for acting like all SAE members are racist.

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Do you think the chapter at Penn State deserves more than one year of suspension?

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