NBC News
1.31.15 | John Schuppe
A backlash is brewing on the campus of the University of Virginia, where sorority women have been asked to skip fraternity parties this weekend to protect their "safety and well-being."
In a Jan. 20 letter to 16 UVA sororities, national sorority leaders encouraged members not to participate in activities related to "men's bid night" on Saturday and to instead plan alternative "sisterhood events" with 100 percent participation. The letter prompted angry responses from students who felt the request treated them as untrustworthy and undermined efforts to reduce the threat of sexual violence.
The controversy comes at a sensitive time at UVA, which was roiled last year by the death of student Hannah Graham and allegations of a gang rape in a now-discredited Rolling Stone article.
On Tuesday, the university's student council unanimously passed a resolution, co-sponsored by two sorority members, saying the letter "perpetuates the fundamental power dynamics underlying the issue by forbidding sorority women to exercise their agency."
The council's chairman, Abraham Axler, who provided a copy of the letter to NBC News, said the response "is not about people fighting for the right to party. It is a response to what we feel is an infringement on the values of the students of UVA, particularly the value of self-governance."
The sorority members who co-sponsored the resolution did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did the author of the letter, Alpha Delta Pi International President Tammie Pinkston, nor many of the leaders who co-signed. The Inter-Sorority Council declined to comment. The National Panhellenic Conference, which counts the 16 sororities as members, said it had nothing to do with the request, but supported it.
In the letter, Pinkston pointed out that the National Panhellenic Conference had a standing policy saying members would not participate in men's recruitment events. That point was also made by Linda Kahangi, the national executive director of the Alpha Phi sorority, in an emailed statement to NBC News. "This has everything to do with reminding UVA chapters of existing policy and nothing to do with a lack of confidence in smart, strong, women who are members of the Alpha Phi chapter at UVA," she said.
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