Last weekend, social media and the grape vine alike were set ablaze by the news that a student had allegedly been drugged and forced into sexual activity at a party held by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Cal Poly was quick to release a police report recounting the details of the offense, including offering the name “Jake” as the suspected perpetrator, but made a major misstep by concluding its email with a list of “personal safety guidelines” for avoiding rape. While Cal Poly’s administrators supposedly believe, as stated in their letter to the students, “rapists commit the crime, not the victim,” they are perpetuating victim-blaming thinking with their inclusion of these so-called preventative measures. If Cal Poly really does intend to “create positive changes” and “prevent sexual assault,” as President Armstrong puts forth in his address to the CP community, it it has to begin by stopping this toxic rape culture from persisting.
Since the reported assault, PIKE has been suspended of all activities, which will hopefully lead to its eventual dissolving. PIKE should have been suspended earlier in the month of October when they accidentally shared an incredibly degrading, misogynistic Facebook post with the public concerning Sigma Kappa’s freshest pledge class.
In reaction to this slip-up, PIKE president Ellis Good hid behind the fact that only two people participated in the writing of the post and thus “it’s not how [they] as a fraternity feel about women and those specific sororities.” Some also feel this way about the rape in that an entire chapter is unfairly being held responsible for the actions of one member. To this I contend, when a fraternity is doing nothing, but further sustaining its reputation as a sexist organization through repeated offenses, they are creating a dangerous, poisonous environment that allows for tragedies like the one committed Halloween night to occur. Also, 33 members had already liked the Facebook post before its removal–it appears PIKE’s brotherhood is indeed like-minded in this sentiment. Cal Poly needs to take notice of the chauvinistic attitudes within its institutions sooner and make responsive action happen faster. Simply asking a fraternity to apologize for the injurious language it is wielding and bigoted beliefs it is exercising is not going to teach boys to not rape.
Awareness is common sense; we women have been raised in a world where we have been taught ceaselessly to be attentive of our surroundings. We know the drill. Safety advisories like the ones provided by the UPD are problematic because they cause survivors to be accused of enabling their assaults for not having “walk[ed] confidently” enough or even more ridiculously, for wearing their hair in an easy-to-grab ponytail. Rape prevention measures inform us, the young women of Cal Poly, that it is our responsibility alone to prevent sexual assault, when in actuality, it is a collective effort. It is on all of Cal Poly to stand in solidarity with our Mustang survivors and end rape’s existence in our community, on and off campus.
For more information about wiping out rape culture, check out “It’s On Us, Poly” on Facebook.