There will be none of the usual tailgates on frat row today before UC Berkeley takes on Oregon in football this weekend: Following two reports of sexual assaults at separate off-campus fraternity events last week, the Berkeley student groups governing fraternities and sororities have forbidden them from hosting social events. Student paper the Daily Californian obtained emails from the school's Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council declaring that “For the first time under our terms, we both do not feel comfortable allowing any of our members attend or host events given the current circumstances.”
As the Interfraternity council wrote to its Facebook page:
The members of the Executive Board of the Interfraternity Council at the University of California, Berkeley, on behalf of our 1,500 constituents, wish to express our condemnation of the vile and unjust incidents that have recently occurred in our community. While we have no reason to believe that these were committed by fraternity men on this campus, it is still disheartening and alarming that they have occurred on fraternity property. We wish to reiterate our pledge to eliminate sexual violence from our community and reaffirm our commitment to our members and students of Berkeley to provide a safe environment for all.At the same time, we recognize the immense courage it took for the survivors to report these crimes and will do everything in our power to respect their privacy and their wishes. The IFC has voluntarily decided to suspend all social events until we can reevaluate our risk management practices and care for those who have been affected.
KPIX 5 quotes council president Daniel Saedi, who lamented the choice to suspend fraternity and sorority events. “This is really the heart of the college experience for a lot of these kids and I don’t want seem entitled when I’m saying this but, it is really taking away from their experience here."
Tough.
Previously: Police Investigating Two Reported Sexual Assaults At Berkeley Frats Last Weekend