Students share experiences with Greek life following University of Southern California protests

In light of the late October protests held on the University of Southern California campus, some students have begun calling for the elimination of the university's fraternities and sororities. Photos courtesy of Polina Past, staff photographer for The Daily Trojan

Trigger warning: sexual assault, homophobia

The names of two students at the University of Southern California have been changed to “Anthony” and “Alex,” respectively, as both asked to remain anonymous to protect themselves from retaliation by supporters of the university’s Greek life. A third student’s identity was also not disclosed to The Panther for the same reason, though they were not interviewed.

The University of Southern California (USC) made headlines nationwide following reports of sexual assault and drugging in the Epsilon Omicron chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity, leading to almost two weeks of on-campus student protests late October through Nov. 10.

Since then, the fraternity issued a statement of solidarity and has been temporarily suspended. Additionally, all USC fraternities and sororities have been temporarily banned from holding parties after receiving reports of similar incidents happening at other fraternity parties, and a  growing portion of the student population is expressing a desire to abolish Greek life on campus.

“All the people who would’ve been going to frat parties are funneling into (other) parties,” said Anthony, a USC student who asked to remain anonymous for fear of backlash from the university community. “I’ve walked and driven past frat row and Sigma Nu specifically, and it’s very solemn. There’s now a gate around Sigma Nu and a guard that sits out front, (and) the curtains (or) blinds are usually closed.”

Anthony told The Panther in an email he has never gone to any parties hosted by Greek life and he does not plan to attend any in the future due to the protests. Instead, he noted the increase in parties hosted by USC sports teams and organizations with their own houses allows ample opportunity for students to socialize while Greek life parties are on halt.

Jack O’Neill, a sophomore cinema and media studies major at USC, went to a fraternity party held by Phi Delta Theta Sept. 17 because he had heard the environment was inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community. While he found the party to be fun, he recalled being scrutinized by members of the fraternity when he and his friend got to the entry gate. 

O’Neill said a friend he went to the party with claimed, in the future, O’Neill might be encouraged to engage in a sexual act with a fraternity member in order to gain entry.

“It all seemed very transactional, and I didn’t really appreciate that element,” O’Neill said. “I didn’t like the feeling of being appraised, or them deciding if we were cool enough or hot enough or whatever to be let into their party.”

While O’Neill has other friends who are in the fraternity, he explained the transactional element is one of the factors that has influenced his decision on whether he would attend another Phi Delta Theta party.

“If they’re throwing this event and you’re just getting in for free, there must be a price of some kind,” O’Neill said. “So, (you’re) just trying to figure out what that is exactly, even if it’s just your pride or your dignity.”

O’Neill said the on-campus sexual assault protests are another reason why he is hesitant about attending Greek life events in the future.

Greek life currently cannot host any parties for its members. 

“I definitely feel that this is kind of a very polarizing moment,” O’Neill said. “Now, to attend a frat party or to support Greek life would almost seem to be a statement in itself, whereas before, I think it was less.”

The Instagram account @abolishgreekusc has accumulated over 2,000 followers as of Nov. 24 and is co-run by a USC senior, Alex, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution from the USC community. The account first posted in July 2020 and was started by another USC student whose identity was not disclosed to The Panther for the same reason. 

Since the account’s creation, content has ranged from anonymous experiences of racism, sexual assault and homophobia at USC Greek life events to informing followers of upcoming protests.

Alex attended two fraternity parties during his time at USC. Alex said the men who own the properties where the parties occur have “supreme authority” and can use their standing to take advantage of the women who are sometimes intoxicated when they attend.

Along with informing the student body about the protests on social media, Alex also frequented the protests and noted the varying turnout for each event.

“Patterns of outrage like this have a large initial turnout from the first event or the protest, and then (the turnout) slowly slides and backtracks off of that,” Alex said. “It’s very episodic in that regard. So, that wasn’t too surprising. I think it has to do a lot (with) the ways that students think about organizing and think about protesting.”

Despite seeing an initial surge in support for the Abolish Greek Life movement, Alex said there were some instances at the protests he felt took away from attaining any kind of political change.

Alex urged students to continue supporting the cause and said organizing would be the next step. So, the @abolishgreekusc account has opened a Google Form in which students interested in organizing with the account can apply. He said more than 20 people have expressed interest in organizing with the account.

“We need to think about ways we can apply pressure to the university administration and to fraternities and sororities in places they’ll feel it (and) in places that we can also do effectively in a reasonable time period,” Alex said. “We need a more coherent organization (of) people with names, addresses (and) phone numbers, not just accounts on social media. In my mind, (this) is a long way away from what we currently have now.”

Senior psychology major Emma Krivoshein, who serves as the president of Chapman University’s Panhellenic Council, told The Panther the council has been discussing with the Interfraternity Council (IFC) this semester on how to make Greek life safer for students. The conversation was initiated by Panhellenic Advisor Jaclyn Dreschler — who also serves as the assistant director of Student Engagement — after hearing about the USC protests.

“For our board, this has just sparked conversations about how we can better educate and care for our members and work with IFC to educate their members as well,” Krivoshein said.

Dreschler wrote in an Nov. 12 email to The Panther that Chapman and its Greek life currently have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct.

“Chapter leadership must understand their standards processes and be prepared to hold members accountable if a situation should arise with support and consultation from their national office and advisors,” Dreschler wrote.

Any Chapman students who would like to report or voice any concerns of sexual assault, Dreschler advises, can reach out to Dean of Students Jerry Price, Student Conduct, Dreschler herself or the university’s Student Concerns Intervention Team. Dreschler also recommends, for maintaining confidentiality, students contact Chapman’s rape crisis counselor Dani Smith, the director of peer and health education.

Correction: O’Neill was never advised directly by any fraternity member to engage in sexual acts to gain entry to a party. A friend he went to the party with claimed, in the future, O’Neill might be encouraged to engage in a sexual act with a fraternity member in order to gain entry.