Banning sexual assault on campus is one of the most pressing issues of our time. But banning women and alcohol from frat parties doesn’t seem like the best way to go about it.
A leaked document from the office of University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin shows a list of “recommendations” to combat sexual assault at the university. These recommendations include making sorority and fraternity members undergo mandatory drug testing, prohibiting hard liquor at parties, and enforcing a curfew for female “guests.”
Rob Fox from Total Frat Move is a Mizzou alumnus. He reported that the university chancellor’s office was planning on putting forth a list of “recommendations” to combat sexual assault and alcohol abuse.
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According to Fox’s sources, the policies discussed at the meeting were pulled from the MU Fraternity Alumni Consortium’s proposal called “Safety for Women in Mizzou Fraternities.” Fox writes that while some of the policies might have been slightly amended or removed, based on the chancellor’s invitation, the general idea is the same.
The document also includes a number of crazy suggestions as to how to limit the incidences of sexual assault and alcohol abuse at the university. Most absurd among them is not allowing women to attend fraternity parties.
Women students as guests in fraternity houses” – Women would not be allowed in fraternity houses between the hours of 10 PM and 3 AM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as well as everyday during syllabus week and stop day each semester.
Other proposed policies include allowing only beer at frat parties and banning fraternities from hosting out-of-town formals.
Twitter users have also criticized these proposed rules for the implication that fraternity men are naturally inclined to assault women, and that by simply removing women from the equation, their urges will subside.
The proposal regarding fraternities at @Mizzou is egregious and unfair. Fraternity membership is NOT synonymous w/ drugs or sexual assault
— Cole Edwards (@TheAgEdwards) June 4, 2015
Perhaps unsurprisingly, female students at Mizzou are furious. They wrote a letter to Chancellor Loftin, which was signed by the presidents of all the sororities on campus.
The letter was obtained by Total Frat Move.
The meeting to discuss the proposed policies is scheduled for June 20. Because this is after the semester ends, Fox speculates the timing might have something to do with the university’s desire to avoid attracting protesters on campus.
But hey, at least there’s one guy who’s into it.
Really, really happy about Chancellor Loftin's initiative to regulate Mizzou frats. It's the most direct way to bring down sexual assault.
— Jack Flemming (@jflem94) June 4, 2015
H/T Huffington Post | Photo via Adam Procter/Flickr (CC 2.0)