USC Sees More Sexual Assault Reports; Students Protest On The Row

LOS ANGELES, CA — The University of Southern California announced more reports of drugging and sexual assault at fraternities as students organized protests for a sixth consecutive day on campus.

USC's department of public safety alerted students on Oct. 20 to a reported sexual assault and reports of drugging at the Sigma Nu fraternity.

By Thursday, five more reports of sexual assault and drugging at Sigma Nu had come to light, along with a report of a drugging at an unknown location. Between Friday and Monday, the public safety department received five more reports of sexual assault and drugging — two on fraternity row, one off the row and two at unknown locations, according to the Daily Trojan student paper.

The Los Angeles Police Department brought in Ryan Schiffilea, the former president of USC's chapter of Sigma Nu, for questioning, the department told Patch. Schiffilea's name appeared on a crime report, police said. He has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

The university said it placed a student on interim suspension as well. It is not clear whether that student was Schiffilea.

The story drew national attention and fits into a long nationwide discussion about sexual violence on college campuses and in Greek-letter organizations.

Students have organized outside Sigma Nu and on fraternity row for days. Monday's protest saw around 1,000 participants, according to KABC. A coalition formed by multiple student activist groups organized the event in response to the Sigma Nu allegations.

Sigma Nu was placed on interim suspension on Thursday, and the Interfraternity Council subsequently halted all fraternity activity, a decree that has already reportedly been broken, according to the Daily Trojan.

L.A. police are investigating the sexual assault and drugging reports at USC. No arrests were made or charges brought as of Wednesday morning, police said.

USC President Carol Folt responded to the events in an email to students and USC community members.

"Such behaviors are deeply disturbing," Folt said. "They hurt people and go against everything we stand for as a community. We are sorry for the pain and anguish this is causing."

Students have been largely disappointed by the administration's response, said Logan Terry, director of advocacy for USC's Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment. Students thought the communications were slow and vague, she said.

Students were especially frustrated by the text included at the bottom of the initial public safety department email, reminding students to travel in groups and limit alcohol consumption at parties. Many students read this as victim-blaming.

Such information is required by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, a federal law meant to increase transparency around campus crime, Folt said.

Sigma Nu's national organization and USC chapter released statements saying the fraternity will comply with investigations and denouncing the alleged behavior of affiliated brothers.

"The gentlemen of Sigma Nu stand in absolute solidarity with all victims of sexual abuse (and victims of all abuse) and in no way condone any acts of violence or sexual abuse by anyone — especially members of Sigma Nu Fraternity. Our lack of communication thus far is not because we are unaware or out of touch or insensitive. We are going through the legal process and are working as quickly as possible to address this terrible situation," said Christopher Brenton, the national organization's director of communications, in a statement.

The USC chapter is working with USC officials, national fraternity leaders and alumni to cooperate in investigations, he added.

Students held a vigil Friday night outside Sigma Nu house to honor sexual assault survivors, according to the Daily Trojan.

Background

A 2019 survey of 62 leading campuses in the country found that one in four female undergraduates said she had been sexually assaulted, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The numbers at USC were higher: Nearly one in three women reported she had experienced sexual assault "by force [or] because they were passed out, asleep or incapacitated by alcohol or drugs and unable to give consent," the Times reported.

"Sexual assault is a pandemic in our community," said USC Flow, an activist group on campus, in a statement.

National and local studies found that men affiliated with fraternities were far more likely to commit sexual assault than were unaffiliated men, and that women in sororities were far more likely to experience sexual violence.

Campus Dialogue

Two key conversations are happening on USC's campus. One is about sexual violence on college campuses at large; the other is about the specific culpability of Greek-letter organizations.

The USC student coalition chose to include Greek-letter organizations in its efforts so as not to alienate any Greek-affiliated students who may be victims of sexual violence as well, Terry said.

Many Greek organizations have spoken out publicly about the reports, including USC's Interfraterntity Council, multiple individual fraternities and others. The coalition planned to meet with USC's Panhellenic Council as well, Terry said.

But for others, including the USC chapter of the national Abolish Greek Life movement, reform is insufficient.

"Over the following weeks we will likely see an outpouring of demands for reform: efforts that treat this incident as an unfortunate episode in an otherwise benign institutional apparatus. We reject those calls for reform and their characterization of the problem; the solution is more simple. We call for abolition," Abolish Greek Life said in a statement.

The days of protests have been emotionally draining, many students told the Patch.

"I feel like everyone is very emotionally raw at the moment. The issue of sexual assault [and] gender-based harm is so widespread that even if someone themselves wasn't directly impacted by it, they know someone else who was — like a friend or a family member. So it's very emotionally raw on campus right now," Terry said. "I think that is good in terms of being able to have very honest discussions about sexual assault, but also not great in terms of students' mental health."

Moving Forward

The student coalition will create a formal list of demands for the administration, Terry said.

Earlier demands for the administration included consistent and stringent repercussions for Sigma Nu and other fraternities that have been found to allow sexual violence.

The Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment also asks for greater transparency and increased communications from the Interfraternity Council, the public safety department and USC's administration, as well as reallocation of funds to sexual violence services on campus and protections for protesters on campus.

The assembly also asks that USC create a rape crisis center to provide rape kits, abortion services, counseling services and clinicians with experience working with survivors of sexual assault.

USC Flow also released a set of demands on Instagram. It called for appropriate punishment in the form of removing USC's Sigma Nu chapter and expelling any students convicted of sexual assault.

"The USC administration and student body cannot control how students behave, but we can control how we respond, how we release information, how we hold each other accountable, and the disciplinary actions that the USC administration chooses to take," the organization said in a statement.

The group also called for sexual harassment and assault training for Greek-letter organizations and USC faculty and staff. It echoed the assembly's demand for free rape kits on campus.

The coalition will host a town hall in coming weeks to address the administration and continue campus conversation about recent events.