Yesterday we reported that Alpha Phi withdrew their support for a bill introduced by National Panhellenic Council that ““would block colleges from investigating sexual assault cases unless the alleged victim also reports to law enforcement, and in those cases, the school couldn’t fully adjudicate until a criminal investigation concludes. No other form of misconduct would face this sort of requirement.”
Huffington Post is now reporting that Phi Mu, Alpha Gamma Delta and Alpha Chi Omega women’s fraternities and the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority have joined Alpha Phi in publicly withdrawing their support for the controversial bill.
NPC has spent upwards of $200,000 lobbying for the bill in Washington, so losing the backing of so many sororities is a major blow to the organization.
The Safe Campus Act would “prohibit colleges and universities from investigating sexual assault cases or punishing sexual predators until the victim reports the crime to police.”
Here’s Delta Phi Epsilon’s formal statement withdrawing their support:
Sisters we have heard your voices and have fast tracked our response on this legislation to NPC. pic.twitter.com/QZpGAAbDgR
— Delta Phi Epsilon (@DPhiEIHQ) November 13, 2015
Delta Phi Epsilon is the only one out of the four to publicly say they are against the legislation. The other three addressed their stance on the issue in a letter to their members.
According to a letter sent to their members, “Phi Mu Fraternity does not endorse the Safe Campus Act nor the Fair Campus Act legislation. While we appreciate the intent of the proposed legislation, we do not support the bills.”
Alpha Gamma Delta told their members, “As the Safe/Fair Campus legislation stands today, Alpha Gamma Delta is not in support of moving forward with these bills. We also acknowledge the call from NPC’s leadership to join in conversation in the coming days to discuss a legislative re-focus by the Conference.”
Alpha Chi Omega issued a clarification to a statement they published earlier in the week, saying “Alpha Chi Omega has not and will not endorse the Safe Campus Act nor the Fair Campus Act without substantive victim-centered changes.”
It’s only a matter of time before more sororities come forward and rally against the bill.
NPC has not issued a statement regarding the withdrawing of support, but if and when they do, we’ll be sure to update this story. .
UPDATED 11/13/15: Gamma Phi Beta has also released a statement on their website pulling their support for the bill, saying, “Today, we share that Gamma Phi Beta does not support the current NPC-endorsed legislation as written. Our reason is simple: the legislation as currently written does not represent the mission, vision, values and guiding principles of our organization. As a member-focused organization 200,000 women strong, we must stand behind our values.”
Sigma Delta Tau released a statement on Facebook saying they expressed concerns about the Safe Campus Act a few weeks ago, and they also “have not supported the legislation in the manner that it currently stands.”
Delta Gamma also sent letters to their members stating that they do not support the bill.
[via Huffington Post]
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Cristina Montemayor
Cristina is a Grandex Writer and Content Manager. She was an intern for over two years before she graduated a semester early to write about college full time, which makes absolutely no sense. She regretfully considers herself a Carrie, but is first and foremost a Rory. She tends to draw strong reactions from people. They are occasionally positive. You can find her in a bar as you're bending down to tie your shoes, drinking Dos XX and drunk crying to Elton John. Email her: cristina@grandex.co (not .com).
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