UMass fraternity sexual assault allegations prompt 11,000 signatures to remove Theta Chi

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A large crowd of protesters from the University of Massachusetts Amherst gathered outside the Theta Chi fraternity on Sunday after allegations of sexual assault surfaced on social media.

A group of about 300 students chanted accusations that the fraternity members were rapists, according to Amherst police.

The protest is due to posts from people documenting their experiences of sexual assault in the Theta Chi and Zeta Beta Tau fraternities reportedly surfaced on Yik Yak, a social media platform where users from surrounding areas post anonymously, according to the student newspaper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. .

Following these posts, a Reddit user wrote: Today at noon there is a demonstration on theta at 12pm and a march to ZBT afterwards. It’s time. We will not be silent.

As the protests have reportedly started peacefully, Amherst police said, videos surfaced online showing a brother in the fraternity being punched in the face with a bottle and an overturned car in the parking lot outside the house .

Two ZooMass Chicks posts show people pushing on a car, followed by another video showing the car sideways.

A video from the ZooMass account shows the size of the crowd outside during the day.

Student journalist McKenna Premus posted a video on Twitter showing protesters chanting F — Theta Chi.

There was also a police presence at the protest, with officers from the Amherst Police Department, the University of Massachusetts Police Department, the Hadley Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.

Residents of the Theta Chi fraternity house called for help from the police at around 12:12 p.m. and a dozen police officers responded to the scene, authorities said. Police dispersed the crowd around 2:15 p.m.

Premus also reported a video of a police officer telling protesters, “Please don’t waste your education on this. There’s a process for that, it’s not that.

Protesters responded: What about the First Amendment?

The officer replied that a child had been hit on the head with a bottle from this group.

No arrests or charges have been made and the investigation is ongoing, police said.

Students also took the protest online, creating a Change.org petition with nearly 11,000 signatures Monday morning calling on the university to suspend or dissolve Theta Chi.

Theta Chi has been involved in several allegations of sexual assault and has yet to be shut down or even suspended. Several brothers drugged vulnerable college-aged girls and were involved in numerous acts of violence against men. SIGN TO CLOSE THEM OR EVEN TO SUSPEND THEM !! the caption of the message read.

Another petition with more than 10,000 signatures calling on the university to remove Theta Chi from campus was created in February after the group was suspended during an investigation into COVID-19 rule violations. Reports of large indoor gatherings were reported by the Daily Collegian and although the group was provisionally suspended, they were still allowed to continue recruiting.

Theta Chi was also suspended in 2018 after a 17-year-old ear was bitten outside a party. Another fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, was also suspended after the incident.

The Sunday protest focused on reports circulating online and among students of an alleged sexual assault linked to the Theta Chi fraternity. UMass is committed to responding quickly and effectively to all allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, UMass spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski told MassLive.

We strongly encourage members of our community with information relating to the alleged Theta Chi incident or any incident of sexual assault or misconduct to immediately contact university authorities. A variety of confidential options are available, including the Center for Women and the Community and the UMass Police. On instruction from the survivors, these discussions can then lead to the opening of an investigation or disciplinary action, the university continued.

The UMasss Student Government Association also issued a written statement:

We, the Student Government Association, support survivors of sexual assault and harassment. As an organization, we recognize this university’s long history in perpetuating the culture of rape on campus and beyond, particularly in Greek life circles, and in its failure to provide sufficient support to victims of sexual assault and harassment. We understand the misdeeds of remaining silent and thus becoming accomplices.

The SGA demanded that the university begin implementing the Survivors Bill of Rights, a set of rights to protect students who were voted on in the last campus election.

It is not the responsibility of fellow students to protect each other, nor the responsibility of students to withdraw from normal college activities, nor the responsibility of students to protest explicitly criminal action. Rather, it is the responsibility and moral obligation of the administration and staff of this university to provide us with an environment in which we can safely live and learn, wrote the SGA.

The group also presented a list of demands to the school, including a suspension of all parties found to be involved and the expulsion of all parties found guilty.

Associated content:

UMass lifts the suspension on 1 frat; Ear bite incident in yet another under study UMass suspends Theta Chi fraternity after reports surfaced of weekend parties amid COVID restrictions

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