The national offices for several sororities announced Friday, Nov. 13 they do not support a controversial campus rape bill known as the Safe Campus Act. The National Panhellenic Conference eventually withdrew its support, as well.
The Safe Campus Act is legislation that would block universities from investigating sexual assault allegations as violations of their student code of conduct unless a victim also reports the assault to law enforcement, according to the bill.
The bill does not require any other crime be reported to the police before a university can conduct an investigation.
Supporters of the bill say it will help reduce sexual assault on campuses by increasing transparency and cooperation between schools and local law enforcement. It's opposers say the bill protects the rapist, not the victim.
“Our member organizations and NPC leadership have listened to the groundswell of concern among our members and are refocusing our legislative agenda," NPC said in an official statement. "To that end, NPC is withdrawing its support of the Safe Campus Act."
Some of the sororities whose national offices do not support the legislation - Phi Mu, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Gamma - have chapters at Auburn.
Representatives for these organizations could not be reached for comment.
NPC says, while it does not support the Safe Campus Act, it will continue to support the Fair Campus Act.
The Fair Campus Act includes many of the same provisions, but does not require the crime be reported to law enforcement.
Lauren Cleveland, Auburn's Panhellenic president, said the Office of Greek Life is closely monitoring the situation.
Cleveland gave the following statement to The Plainsman:
"In the last week, much has been said about the Safe Campus Act. We as Auburn Panhellenic understand that NPC and our member groups have been doing a lot of research about what the best method is for addressing the continual issues of sexual assault and domestic violence on college campuses. As a community, we are closely monitoring the situation and are confident that our chapter headquarters and NPC will be actively searching for a solution that best represents the interest of our members. We encourage interested women to learn about current processes and proposed changes to decide for themselves what they would support."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
