Yale Fraternity stoops to new low

Fraternity’s don’t have the best reputation on college campuses for upstanding behavior or respect of women, but this takes it to another level.

Begin­ning around 9:30 pm, mem­bers of the DKE fra­ter­nity marched with their pledges around Yale’s Old Cam­pus (the home of almost all of Yale’s fresh­man women) chant­ing slo­gans such as “No means yes, yes means anal” and “My name is Jack, I’m a necrophil­iac, I f— dead women, and fill them with my semen.”

Maturity at it’s best, no?

And what notable political figure is an alumnus of this upstanding fraternity? None other than our favorite former President George W. Bush.

I think a suitable response might be requiring each of these young men to read “Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape.” They could obviously learn a thing or two that their Ivy League education seems to be lacking.

More about the incident at Yale and responses can be found here.

UPDATE: The fraternity brothers have issued an apology and are cooperating with the campus Women’s Center in a dialogue on sexual assault today. From their apology:

The brothers of DKE accept responsibility for what we did, and want to sincerely apologize to the Yale community. We were wrong. We were disrespectful, vulgar and inappropriate. More than that, we were insensitive of all women who have been victims of rape or sexual violence, especially those here at Yale. Rape is beyond serious – it is one of the worst things that any person can be subjected to. It is not a laughing matter, yet we joked about it.

The brothers of DKE were not out to hurt or target anyone, or to incite violence against women. And although we in no way condone rape, we realize that this kind of behavior exemplifies a casual attitude towards rape that sadly fosters an environment in which sexual harassment can be ignored or belittled.

Though our original statement sought mistakenly to defend the fraternity, we realize that many members of the Yale community are frustrated, appalled and offended by what was said. Many of you are angry with us. We understand why the Women’s Center called for campus-wide action immediately following the story of what transpired — something must be done to ensure that this behavior, whether intentional or in jest, is not simply brushed aside.

As apologies go, it’s an impressive one. I’m glad that the Women’s Center has been able to lead the response to this incident. But it’s still difficult to believe that these men didn’t understand what they’ve written above before they decided to initiate their new recruits this way, or while it was happening.