This is the generation to end sexual assault on the University of Virginia's campus, and that will be a defining moment in school history, school President Teresa Sullivan said Tuesday at an emergency meeting of the Board of Visitors to discuss recent allegations of sexual assault that rocked the campus.
Last week Rolling Stone published the disturbing details of "Jackie’s" alleged 2012 gang rape by Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers and subsequent claims of an administrative cover-up.
“I’d like to say to ‘Jackie’ and her parents that I am sorry,” Rector George Keith Martin said.
“Rolling Stone has delivered this university a wake-up call,” Inter-Fraternity Council President Tommy Reid said.
“Sexual violence is a problem in fraternities and in the Greek system, and we don’t want to hide that," Reid said. "But we need to change it. We need to confront it.”
Over the past week, students, faculty and staff have protested on grounds, accusing the university of neglecting to fully investigate past sexual assaults.
Tuesday they seized the opportunity to vent those frustrations directly to the president and board.
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“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Board of Visitors in person," sexual assault prevention advocate Ashley Brown said. "This is the first time anyone has ever approached us.”
Sullivan promised changes and transparency.
“I want to make it perfectly clear to you and the watching world that nothing is more important to me than the safety of our students," she said. "Not our reputation, not our success, and not our history or our tradition.”
Sullivan has asked police to investigate the alleged rape at the Phi Kappa Psi house, and she has said the article contained details previously unknown to officials.
The school has temporarily banned fraternity activities in response to the allegations.
