Greeks Against Sexual Assault

The ASUC recently proposed the Berkeley Community Angel Shots Initiative, which would fund the distribution of fliers in Berkeley’s restaurants, bars and eateries to spread awareness for sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention measures. 

I am grateful for what my sorority has given me and the community of women that we are, but I also disapprove of many aspects of Greek life.

Pretending like rapists don’t know what unambiguous, enthusiastic consent looks like is on the same wavelength as blaming sexual assault survivors for wearing revealing clothing.

About 10 UC Berkeley students protested in front of several fraternity houses along Piedmont Avenue on Saturday afternoon, including Delta Kappa Epsilon and Pi Kappa Alpha.

Several student protesters assembled outside Phi Gamma Delta, or Fiji, fraternity Saturday afternoon to protest sexual assault. But they were interrupted by members of the fraternity, who began posing behind the protesters in what many alleged was a mockery of the rally.

Eventually, I came to a realization: No fraternity is designed to be safe for me. I’m sure that plenty of women are reading this story with the fraternity they’re closest to in mind — the one that they have friends in and feel relatively safe at. And I’m sure that many of them would also have a similar story.

Billy Allocca, a campus sophomore and business administration major, announced his independent candidacy for ASUC Senate on Thursday night.

For years, Greek community leadership knew about repeated allegations of drugging and sexual assault at the UC Berkeley chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity, but they didn’t take official action until this week. It’s infuriating and baffling, but nobody’s surprised.

Without completely dissolving the gender divide between fraternities and sororities, the question persists: How do we fight deeply rooted misogyny and power imbalances within the system to properly address the perpetual recurrence of sexual violence?