Protesters Demand University of Iowa To Abolish Its Fraternity After Sexual Assault Allegation

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Phi Gamma Delta house in Iowa City Tuesday night, calling for the fraternity to be abolished.

KGAN reported that some protesters broke windows on the Phi Gamma Delta house, whose members are commonly called Fijis, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and others broke into the house, according to the news outlet – but it’s unclear if any damage was done inside.

The protest stemmed from an online petition that accused two members of Phi Gamma Delta of sexual assault September of last year and accused the police and the school of not doing anything about it. As of Tuesday evening, the petition has more than 80,000 signatures. An original version included their names and pictures, which have since been removed. The petition claims that a sophomore girl was drugged, raped and videotaped by members of the fraternity.

Accordign to KCRG, Rob Caudill, Executive Director for Fiji said that when they learned of the allegations last year, the fraternity immediately removed the members involved and cooperated with the University and local police investigation.

The petition also states that the Iowa City Police have video and DNA evidence, but that the county attorney opted not to prosecute. The Iowa City Police declined to comment or confirm if it investigated the allegations.

The petition also criticizes the University as the students named are still listed as current students and even claims to be in the same class as the victim. The University of Iowa said that it can’t comment on student matters because of privacy laws. It said it offers to meet with anyone who reports sexual misconduct, but not every victim chooses to do that.

Adam Robinson, the executive director of the Rape Victim Advocacy Program, said, in his experience, many sexual assault cases do not go to court. Fox News reported that the fraternity’s University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) chapter is also facing a separate sexual assault allegation that surfaced on Aug. 23.

The UNL chapter was suspended last Wednesday. The chapter was put on probation in 2015 and suspended from 2017 to 2020 over for alcohol-related offenses and alleged sexual misconduct. The Nebraska protesters were also calling on the university to shut the frat down.