Kudos to the Greek System for their superb sense of news management and publicity... getting upset not about a rape at a House during a party, but the news article about it. What this letter doesn't note is that there was actually a petition circulated around the Frats signed by numerous Presidents condemning the coverage. In the end it was decided not to send the petition to the Daily Cal with the signatures.

I am writing to express my deep concern about the article in The Daily Californian Tuesday March 10 "Student Reports Sexual Assault at Frat.”

Undoubtedly, articles that report such serious and heinous crimes warrant a spot on the front and center of the paper.

The Daily Californian has failed, however, to consider the serious implications of placing the word “frat” in the headline and “Sigma Chi” in its sub headline giving off the false impression that one of its members perpetrated the assault.

Furthermore, it fosters a rush to judgment that is difficult to overcome even after having read the entire article.

Barely to the paper’s credit, it included a sentence from the fraternity’s president denying that one of his members was the attacker.

In effect, The Daily Californian has all but convicted the fraternity and the rest of the Greek community of a crime of which they have not been accused. And why have they been blamed for this act by the Daily Californian? Because attributing the act to a “frat” is so much juicier and gets so many more students to pick up the paper than a less inflammatory headline such as, “Student Reports Sexual Assault.”

For those of us in the Greek community, this negative characterization by The Daily Californian comes as no surprise. For decades our houses have worked hard with a wide array of philanthropic organizations raising awareness and funds to support their causes. Yet rarely do lead articles paint a positive picture of Greek organizations despite the contributions they make to the community.

Finally, to the readers of Tuesday’s article: Sigma Chi fraternity did not commit sexual assault last weekend. Similarly, the university did not commit sexual assault three times in the dorms last year. The location of a crime does not automatically determine who is at fault. In each instance, it’s a vile individual who is responsible for sexual assault and that is exactly who should take blame for it.

Zein Obagi Jr.
UC Berkeley student

That the rape wasn't committed by a Fraternity member is not the issue. It's that while a party was going on, someone could go into a Fraternity room, commit (alleged) rape, and get away with it. For the thousands of people attending Frat parties, this is news we can use. Similarly, if a rape was committed in a Co-op or Dorm it would be reported as being in a Co-op or a dorm, since hundreds of students frequent these places and probably should know what's going on there.

In addition: the fact that the alleged rape took place at a Frat has really serious consequences for the Fraternity. There's trouble from IFC, the National, and possibly police; they may assume liability for letting it happen on their property. That's news.

Finally, the fact that the person responsible hasn't been caught means the paper should make some effort to help the police help catch the perpetrator. It's not very helpful if they write 'Somewhere on campus, an alleged rape occured. The perpetrator was medium-height.' The UCPD alert highlights that it happened at Sigma Chi.

So anyway, kudos to Mr. Obagi for making it seem like Frats are more concerned about their image then preventing rape.Email This Post!