Three fraternities at Stony Brook University have been suspended following sexual assault and hazing allegations.
According to the university, reports of Title IX violations and hazing were filed with the department that oversees fraternities and sororities.
Stony Brook University posted a statement on its website saying, "reports of alleged Title IX violations and hazing were filed" and as a result the university has put three fraternities on "interim suspension." They are Kappa Sigma, Sigma Beta Rho, and Tau Kappa Epsilon. "
Niki Nassiri, a junior at Stony Brook, is a reporter for the student newspaper
The Statesman. She recently wrote an article about numerous allegations of sexual assault and hazing made by her fellow classmates. Many of the claims were made on a
social media account.
"A lot of victims have been saying that they've been discouraged from going forward with their cases and said this in their personal Instagram statements so I'm sure coming forward was very hard for them," says Nassiri.
One of the fraternities responded on Instagram. Kappa Sigma says in part, "...We hold ourselves responsible not just for our own members, but for the Greek life community as a whole. We recognize the part that silence plays in rape culture and we refuse to be inactive in this."
Keith Scott, the executive director of the Safe Department, says the current situation is not unique to Stony Brook.
"The stats show, that 1 in 5 students will be sexually assaulted during their first four years in college," says Scott. "That's the reality across the board. That's 20% and that's unacceptable.
In its statement, Stony Brook also says all incoming students take required sexual harassment and violence prevention training. The university says it's looking to expand its Green Dot training, which is a peer bystander intervention program.