University of Virginia Fraternity Considering Lawsuit Against Rolling Stone for Gang Rape Article
ByThe University of Virginia's (UVA) Alpha chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is considering suing Rolling Stone over its "A Rape on Campus" investigative article.
According to Time, the fraternity is "exploring its legal options" in the wake of the Charlottesville Police Department's (CPD) recent announcement. The CPD said in a press conference Monday they found "no evidence" to support Rolling Stone's article.
The magazine issued a formal apology and commissioned an editorial review from the dean of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Steve Coll.
In a press release Monday, Phi Kappa Psi requested "Rolling Stone fully and unconditionally retract its story and immediately remove the story from its website." The magazine has apologized and admitted fault in their editorial process, but the story has remained online.
Though the CPD said they could not support the gang rape detailed in the article, they said the "case is not closed by any stretch of the imagination." While the police could not validate what "Jackie" described in the article, the CPD said they remain committed to addressing the matter of sexual misconduct.
"This issue will not, and should not, be pushed back into the shadows," Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, chairman of a task force that will soon release its own findings on campus sexual violence, told the Associated Press.
UVA suspended all its Greek group activity in the wake of the article's publication, a ban that has since been lifted. The school also released a strict set of guidelines for its fraternities and sororities to follow in hosting officially sanctioned social events.
"These false accusations have been extremely damaging to our entire organization, but we can only begin to imagine the setback this must have dealt to survivors of sexual assault," Stephen Scipione, president of the UVA Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi told ABC News. "We hope that Rolling Stone's actions do not discourage any survivors from coming forward to seek the justice they deserve."
