Phi Kappa Psi reinstated after investigation finds no 'substantive basis' for Rolling Stone allegati

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Cavalier Daily

After suspending activities in November, chapter became the first to sign on to new FOA regulations

by Andrew Elliott | Jan 12 2015 | 1 hour ago

The University chapter of Phi Kappa Psi was officially reinstated by both the University and the national Phi Kappa Psi fraternity organization, the University announced in a press release Monday morning.

“The reinstatement resulted after consultation with Charlottesville Police Department officials, who told the University that their investigation has not revealed any substantive basis to confirm that the allegations raised in the Rolling Stone article occurred at Phi Kappa Psi,” according to the release.

The chapter voluntarily suspended its activities in November, after allegations in a Rolling Stone article that the fraternity was involved in a gang rape of a first-year student in September 2012. After the article’s publication, University President Teresa Sullivan requested Charlottesville Police investigate the alleged attack. The accuracy of the article has subsequently been called into question and friends of the first-year student, Jackie, have noted several discrepancies between what they remember of the assault and how it was portrayed in Rolling Stone.


Read more: http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2015/01/university-reinstated-phi-kappa-psi-after-police-investigation-shows-little-evidence

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This is in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I'm sorry about the truncated title. There's nothing I can do.

I consider this national news, due to the Rolling Stone article. If not for that, it would be local.

As always, the hosts have the last word. If they deem it a local story, I'll put it in the Virginia Forum.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. U-Va. Phi Psi members speak about impact of discredited gang rape allegations

U-Va. Phi Psi members speak about impact of discredited gang rape allegations

Education
By T. Rees Shapiro January 14 at 7:18 PM
@TReesShapiro
[email protected]
http://www.twitter.com/TReesShapiro

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Phi Kappa Psi brothers sat together in a bedroom, turning the glossy magazine pages as they absorbed the account of a gang rape that allegedly took place within the brick walls around them.

The University of Virginia students read the Rolling Stone article that November night in complete surprise. A U-Va. junior said she attended a date party at the fraternity house in 2012 and was lured to a bedroom, where a group of men raped her in what appeared to be a gruesome initiation rite. The students were disgusted, emotional and confused.

“Some people actually had to leave the room while they were reading it because they were so upset,” said Phi Psi President Stephen Scipione, 21, a junior from Richmond. ... But within 24 hours of the article’s publication, the U-Va. students reviewed the fraternity’s records and confirmed their initial suspicions: The magazine’s account was deeply flawed.

“We knew that the Rolling Stone story was not true,” said David Fontenot, 22, a senior from McLean, Va. But they also knew “that we would only make things more difficult by fighting it in the media and that our best move was to stay quiet, let the police do their jobs and ride it out until the time was appropriate.”
....

Susan Svrluga in Washington contributed to this report.

T. Rees Shapiro is an English graduate of Virginia Tech. He got his start in journalism as a reporter for the college newspaper covering the April 16, 2007, shootings on campus. A Middleburg, Va., native, he is an alumnus of Woodberry Forest School.