2 UVA Frats Holding Out on New Party Policy Agreement Back Down on Protest 'Reluctantly'
ByTwo fraternities at the University of Virginia (UVA) holding out on signing the school's Fraternal Organization Agreement have backed down in their protest.
According to the Associated Press, Kappa Alpha and Alpha Tau Omega national organization announced Friday the UVA chapters would sign the FOA or remain suspended. The school's FOA is bounding Greek groups to a strict new addendum in which a certain number of members need to remain sober during social events.
KA and ATO previously stated they would not sign the FOA because their own policies were comprehensive enough and they did not need UVA's administration to require them to add precautions.
UVA had suspended all Greek groups after the release of Rolling Stone's "A Rape on Campus" article. The school then lifted the suspension with the new set of rules and the FOA when the magazine acknowledged errors in reporting the story. The fraternity in question, which apparently did not have an event the night the complainant said she was raped, was also reinstated earlier this week.
UVA's KA and TAO chapters released an open letter confirming they would sign the FAO, the Daily Cavalier reported, albeit "reluctantly."
"As we have said from the beginning, the fraternity men and sorority women at the University of Virginia were harmed by the suspension in December and deserve to regain their rightful standing as leadership organizations on campus," reads the letter. "It is extraordinarily disappointing to see a university of this caliber sacrifice the ideals of freedom of association and due process on the altar of public opinion.
"The fact that our chapters are signing the FOA does not alleviate the coercion, duress or other wrongdoing of the University through this entire process.
"Given the University's poor handling of this matter, we are now exploring the right to pursue any legal remedies."