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‘UNACCEPTABLE’: LACK OF ACCESSIBILITY FOR DISABLED STUDENTS CONTINUES DESPITE COMPLAINTS, INVESTIGATIONS:
From blocked sidewalks and heavy doors to a lack of wheelchair ramps and construction sites all around campus, accessibility for people with disabilities is an ongoing conversation at the University of Nevada, Reno.
In June, ProPublica developed a tool to make the status of civil rights investigations at both higher education institutions and school districts across the nation available for the public in one place. When this was released, it was revealed UNR had seven pending investigations as of June 2018. Six of the seven pending allegations were regarding accessibility — the quality of being easy to use or access, regardless of ability.
In August 2015, four investigations were opened against the university and have yet to be resolved. The civil rights cases regarded accessibility, procedural requirements, treatment of postsecondary students and academic adjustments. In October 2016, two additional cases were opened regarding accessibility and are still pending — one for academic adjustments and the other for disability harassment.
These pending investigations were not the only cases made public by ProPublica, which also provided information regarding any opened cases from the past three years, as well as whether they were resolved with or without violations. Of the seven closed cases from the last three years, two were resolved with corrective changes. The common factor between the cases resolved with corrective changes was a lack of accessibility on campus.
In addition to the civil rights cases, the university faced a much more public mistake with accessibility in 2016. After Mackay Stadium received a $14 million renovation, builders did not put into account a portion of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act that requires wheelchair seating in all areas.
From wheelchair areas, you could see “the back of the players’ heads, their butts, not the field,” Joe Bohl, a wheelchair-bound university alumni, said to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The failure to comply with the ADA resulted in a $690,000 fix to the stadium to ensure those in wheelchairs would be able to see the field. Upon investigation, it was found that this mistake was considered to be discrimination against those with disabilities.
Sophie Coudurier, a university student who is completely wheelchair-bound because of a spinal cord injury due to skiing, does not find these investigations or mistakes surprising.
“UNR tries to be accessible, however sometimes they miss the little things that are needed to make campus more accessible such as setting up automatic doors for all buildings and putting Braille outside of the buildings so that students who are blind know which buildings they are going to,” Coudurier said. “This summer, in a class I realized that there is some Braille only at the inside of the buildings, and therefore students who are blind would not be able to find their classes by themselves. I think that that is not acceptable because all students should be able to find their classes by themselves as a part of college life.”
Coudurier feels the lack of accessibility comes from the little things being overlooked. While they could put her at risk of being inconvenienced or late to class, these accessibility violations could also put her at risk of getting hurt.
“Overall, the lack of accessibility is in the small details, such as the doors without the door opener buttons, the accessible entrances being in the back of buildings and the uneven sidewalks because I could get my front wheels stuck in one of the holes and fall out of my chair,” Coudurier said.
Coudurier named two particular areas on campus that she feels are particularly inaccessible in her day-to-day life — Frandsen Hall and the area between the William J. Raggio Building and the Reynolds School of Journalism.
“I do not feel the levels of [accessibility] are acceptable, because the wheelchair accessible routes are usually behind the building — Frandsen Hall specifically — and some of the buildings don’t have accessible doors so I end up having to pull them open and reposition my chair several times during the process, which gets frustrating sometimes,” Coudurier said. “The big ramp that connects the journalism school to the Raggio has always been a difficult place for accessibility and the long distance and tiny slope has negatively impacted my time at the university.”
The Disability Resource Center has made life in college a little easier for Coudurier, such as creating accommodations to make getting from class to class simpler.
“The university has been helpful in helping me get around campus in some aspects,” Coudurier said. “More specifically, the DRC has been a huge help when it comes to changing classrooms so that I don’t have to go to the other side of campus in 15 minutes. They’ve moved my classes to the same building or the same room, and it’s really nice to not have to brave the slow crowds in between classes on campus. Other than that, the university has not been very helpful because of accessibility issues such as heavy doors and a lack of automatic doors in some of the buildings.”
Mary Zabel, director of the DRC, said they are devoted to helping those with disabilities on campus, although Zabel herself feels that campus is doing a “commendable job” in ensuring accessibility.
“The DRC serves all students with disabilities both physical and learning, as well as Deaf and hard of hearing, students with health-related disabilities, students who are blind/low vision, students with mental health disabilities, students with Attention Deficit Disorder, students with cognitive disabilities, students on the Autism Spectrum, as well as students who have temporary disabilities [such as] a broken arm,” Zabel said. “As the Director of the Disability Resource Center and working in this field for over 30 years, this is my opinion. I believe that overall, the university does a commendable job in serving students with disabilities. One example has been our efforts in addressing Information and Communication Technology Accessibility. This was a university-wide effort to create greater accessibility in the areas of websites, captioning and access to classroom materials.”
According to university President Marc Johnson, the lack of accessibility comes from ADA regulations being changed after the construction of a building. The ADA, or the Americans with Disabilities Act, outlines the necessary components a building must have to be accessible for those with disabilities.
“All of our new buildings are built to the current code regulations, including ADA codes,” Johnson said. “Whenever we get a designer, the designers are all licensed and they have to abide by ADA standards. We have all of our designs reviewed by the State Public Works Board and they follow all state laws in terms of ADA compliance and all other codes. So when a building gets old, we may fall out of compliance with ADA regulations, but only when the codes change.”
According to Johnson, violations are fixed to comply with codes according to priority..
“When the codes change, including the ADA codes, then we review all of our buildings and create a list of violations for the current code and we prioritize them and address them as soon as we have money available to address them,” Johnson said. “We have buildings on campus that were built in 1896 and we have buildings that are being built in 2018. All the new buildings are within ADA compliances.”
The order in which things are fixed ranges depending on the severity of violation and frequency of use. The Facilities Services Division prioritizes each violation when codes change based on the level of traffic in that particular area of campus.
While every building on campus was built to ADA codes at the time of their construction, according to Johnson, this does not equate to each building being universally designed.
Universal design is a standard of construction set by the National Disability Authority as “the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.”
While some buildings on campus have components that can be classified as universally designed, such as wide doorways for wheelchairs to fit through or automatic doors, there is currently not a single building at the university that fits all criteria to be classified as universally designed.
Johnson invites all students and university members with issues or concerns regarding disabilities to email either him or Facilities Services.
“We intend to have all of our buildings accessible for all ranges of accessibility but we know that they aren’t 100 percent accessible,” Johnson said. “If there are any issues of accessibility, a student, faculty member or member of the community can email me or Facilities Services so we can identify the issues. We want people to tell us what the issues are so we can fix it.”
Coudurier has refrained from reporting her concerns with campus accessibility due to feelings that the university places its priorities elsewhere.
“I haven’t reported this to the university because it doesn’t feel like a priority and I feel that they care more about sports than accessibility on campus,” Coudurier said.
Aside from reporting concerns to Facilities Services, students with disabilities are encouraged to set up accommodations with the DRC by going to unr.edu/drc or by calling the DRC at (775) 784-6000.
FRATERNITY DOCUMENT LEADS TO QUESTIONS OF RAPE CULTURE IN GREEK LIFE:
By Olivia Ali and Jazmin Orozco
Editor’s Note:
In the interest of transparency, The Nevada Sagebrush felt it necessary to inform readers of Jazmin Orozco’s connection to the document discussed in this article. The document was found and brought to The Nevada Sagebrush by Orozco, one of the reporters of this article and a journalism student at UNR. While debating whether it was ethical for Orozco to help write this article, it was decided it was acceptable as she is a journalist who found information and felt it needed to be distributed, as all journalists do when researching a story.
Content warning: The following story discusses sexual assault and violence that can be traumatizing for some readers.
In early October, a document belonging to the Pi-Iota chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the University of Nevada, Reno, was found open on a Knowledge Center computer connected to a closed Facebook group for members of TKE.
The document was addressed to pledges — new members that have yet to be initiated — of the fraternity and contained songs, forms and other information about the fraternity. In the post that the document was linked on, the pledges were told not to share the document or they would be dropped from TKE immediately.
The songs in the document depicted images and themes of drinking, sexual misconduct and assault. Some songs depict violence and assault against other fraternities and sororities
“Circumcise a Sig Ep with a jagged piece of glass/ Ram a rusty bayonet up a Phi Delt’s [a**],” says the lyrics to one of the songs, “Apollo’s Raiders”.
Two songs specifically mentioned the Pi Beta Phi and Tri Delta sororities, which have chapters on campus.
“I stuck my finger in a Pi Beta Phi/ And the Pi Beta Phi said my oh my/ Take it out, take it out, take it out/ Remove it,” said the lyrics of “Pi Beta Phi”.
The President of the Nevada Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi provided a statement to the Nevada Sagebrush in response to the document.
“Members of Pi Beta Phi are expected to recognize the dignity and respect due to all individuals,” the statement said. “We recently learned that Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity negatively referenced Pi Beta Phi through song lyrics, and we are concerned with the impact of this demeaning vocabulary on women in our campus community. Our chapter supports internal accountability measures taken by Tau Kappa Epsilon, and we will continue to support their efforts to educate the University of Nevada Reno fraternity and sorority community. Further, the Nevada Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi is committed to being part of the solution to create a more inclusive campus culture and an environment that promotes respect and empowerment for women.”
The “Three [W****s] From Tri-Delt” song says “Three Tekes went up in January/ And didn’t come back ‘til June!/[…] Rattle your nuts upon her guts/ And join the slimey crew”.
Tri-Delta and the Interfraternity Council did not respond to the Nevada Sagebrush’s request for comment.
Songs titled “Get Your Girlfriend” and “Yo Ho” depict sexual assault and rape.
“When she starts to shake and quiver/ Wondering ‘what’s a going on?’/ Tell her it’s the secret handshake/ of Tau Kappa Epsilon,” the song lyrics to “Get Your Girlfriend” read.
“Yo Ho” describes a TKE and a woman progressively getting more sexually involved until the woman dies from “sucking all them Tekes [c***s]” and them digging her body up to “[f***] her again”.
After the songs, the document had two separate forms — the first was a sheet with interview questions for members of the fraternity and the second was titled “House Hours Sign-off Sheet”. The back page was titled “9th Paragraph” and outlined the “essential elements of true brotherhood”.
The president of the Pi-Iota Chapter of TKE, Masen Confetti, declined the Nevada Sagebrush’s request for comment on the origins, uses and possession of the document.
The TKE national organization suspended the chapter on Thursday, Nov. 1, after learning of the document.
“Tau Kappa Epsilon has temporarily suspended our Pi-Iota chapter at the University of Nevada-Reno, while we investigate the alleged disgusting actions that do not represent the values and culture of Tau Kappa Epsilon,” said Chief Information Officer Alex Baker in an email to the Nevada Sagebrush. “We are partnering with the university during this time, and will hold those responsible accountable for their actions.”
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life — the office that oversees the Interfraternity Council that TKE is managed by — said they did not know about the existence of these songs or the lyrics.
“Most songs that I know of are actually more-so connected to rituals,” said Megan Pepper, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the university. “We obviously don’t know what those are within certain organizations because rituals are the parts that are secret and we attempt to do our best to respect that.”
While the Office of FSL does require oversight of activities for new member education and programs, documents such as the one found are not required to be turned in.
“We don’t require that any of that documentation is turned into us during the recruitment process,” Pepper said. “What we do require is that of what their new member education and initiation activities look like.”
However, oversight by the Office of FSL on initiation and pledging materials may be strengthened after the investigation of the TKE document, according to Pepper.
The Office of FSL has no knowledge of “dirty songs” in other Greek life organizations on campus. The songs in the document from TKE were the first known on the University of Nevada, Reno, campus, according to Pepper.
Regardless of university affiliation and recognition, Pepper says the songs do not reflect Greek life as a whole.
“We don’t condone any of it, obviously, ” Pepper said. “It was disturbing to us as well and I think us as an office are committed to addressing this community-wide, given where we’re at in society.”
Pepper said the results of the investigation will determine TKE’s punishment — which could range from educational training to losing its affiliation with the university and/or their national chapter.
The 2018 University Relationship Agreement, which recognized fraternities and sororities must adhere to, states in return for recognition, “fraternity and sorority chapters will sponsor only those activities that do not allow or encourage alcohol abuse, illegal drug use, sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual violence, dating violence, stalking, domestic violence, or illegal activity.”
However, some feel songs like these are what often link Greek life to rape culture. The Equal Opportunity & Title IX Office defines rape culture as “a culture or environment where sexual assaults and other abusive behavior is normalized.”
Fraternity organizations may be especially susceptible to fostering this kind of culture within their groups, according to the Nevada Cares program coordinator Daniel Fred, who explains that the group dynamics of brotherhood may inhibit members from protesting inappropriate behavior or language.
“Especially when there’s secrets, like these songs, and things that bring a cohesiveness to being brothers, it makes you not question or openly come against the things that everybody is standing for,” Fred said.
Ashlyn Rochester, a junior at the university and member of a Panhellenic sorority, reported her own sexual assault by a Theta Chi fraternity member to EO/TIX Office in October of 2017. Rochester feels that there is an aspect of “group mentality” between brothers in a fraternity that perpetuates rape culture.
“I just think no one’s brave enough to call out their own brothers because they think they’re like, ‘Oh we’re in this brotherhood for life, like these are my guys, they got my back’,” Rochester said. “So for someone to be like you did a [sh***y] thing, you shouldn’t be a part of this chapter, I think would be bad consequences for them … I think it’s just a group mentality that people are just too scared to speak up.”
Rochester’s friendships with other members of Theta Chi suffered following her decision to report the sexual assault.
“I even told them, I was like ‘Ok, I have options like I could go for Title IX, I could do a police report, things that aren’t going to be in his favor, like if you don’t want to be friends with me, you know, tell me now.’ And they were like, ‘No we’re still friends with you.’ But then they just ended up not talking to me,” Rochester said.
Rochester’s friends did not support her decision to report her sexual assault by one of their fraternity brothers and ignored a police detective’s efforts to reach them for information on the incident.
“I don’t think they helped in the police investigation at all because my detective was like ‘Hey I can’t get a hold of these people they won’t pick up, they won’t answer.’ So they I’m no friend to them at all. I refuse to be friends with anyone in that organization,” Rochester said.
In February of 2018, a few months after filing her initial report to EO/TIX Office, Rochester received a letter from the office saying the investigation would be moving forward. In May 2018, Rochester received another letter informing her of the consequences her attacker would face on behalf of the Title IX office. The punishment included not being able to be on university grounds until Rochester’s graduation and withholding of his transcript for a year.
Despite the success with her report, Rochester does not believe the university is doing enough for survivors on campus, prompting her to join Nevada Cares, a sexual assault awareness organization on campus that promotes community for survivors.
While six fraternities publicly supported sexual assault survivors in the Banners Up movement this past September, both Fred and Rochester believe this public display to be an insufficient, lateral move that does not necessarily signify progression or making amends to survivors.
“I think if UNR is going to move forward in general as a community, men have to step up and be a part of the solution and say ‘This is not right and this isn’t who we’re going to be anymore’,” Fred said. “I think that’s the only way to move forward with anything and to make any lasting change. It’s not demeaning any work that women have done or can do. It’s just that men are going to have to start being a part of the solution.”
Fred said “being part of the solution” demands the participation of the male voice against any kind of sexual assault.
“I think just acknowledging that the majority of us [men] are not perpetrators, are not the problem by what we do. We’re the problem by our silence. So it’s our responsibility to speak up — silence is really cosigning the people who are the perpetrators,” said Fred.
The 2016 UNR Sexual Conduct and Campus Safety Surveyfound out of the 31 percent of degree-seeking students who participated in the survey, 8 percent self-identified as victims of physical sexual assault or rape, 24 percent experienced sexual harassment and 13 percent reported having experienced sexual coercion or verbal pressure to engage in sexual activities. 87 percent of the survey participants were female and 13 percent were male.
Of the survey participants, 19 percent identified as a member of a sorority as compared to non-Panhellenic women at 11 percent.
The Title IX office said there are currently open sexual assault allegation investigations at the university. However, the office does not track organizational affiliations as part of their record keeping process, therefore could not comment on the presence of fraternity organizations implicated in the open investigations.
The university policy follows state and federal law when it comes to any form of sexual violence.
“Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is a form of discrimination; it is illegal,” stated the university’s Codification of Board Policy Statements under Title 4, Chapter 8, Page 10. “No employee or student, either in the workplace or in the academic environment, should be subject to unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that is sexual in nature. Sexual harassment does not refer to occasional compliments of a socially acceptable nature. It refers to behavior of a sexual nature that is not welcome, that is personally offensive, and that interferes with performance. It is expected that students, faculty and staff will treat one another with respect.”
To report a sexual assault or a case of sexual misconduct, the Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX asks victims to call the Sexual Assault/ Sexual Misconduct hotline at (775)-784-1030 or the EO/TIX Office at (775)-784-1547. For more information on filing a report with the EO/TIX Office, go to unr.edu/equal-opportunity-title-ix.
BREAKING IT DOWN: UNR AWARDED $25 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIP MONEY DURING 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR
The University of Nevada, Reno’s scholarship form closed earlier this month on Friday, Feb. 1, and will be used to determine scholarships for the 2019-2020 school year. Scholarships are given to undergraduate, graduate and medical school students at the university based on a variety of factors — merit, need and by college. The university uses a matrix to determine scholarships for underclassmen. During the 2017-2018 school year, the university awarded nearly $25 million in scholarships.
How scholarships are determined
Scholarships granted from the university are given on several criteria. The process for undergraduate and graduate students is different than the process for freshmen.
“We have on MyNevada Supplemental Forms, there is a graduate and undergraduate scholarship application that comes out October 1st to February 1st,” said Tim Wolfe Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships. “Students will go on to answer a series of questions, and that gets loaded into a scholarship database that gets shared with the colleges here with the scholarship chairperson and scholarships are awarded based on the funding.”
All freshman are automatically considered for scholarships if their test scores, transcripts and application have been sent in prior to February 1. When new freshman first apply to the university, they are automatically applied for scholarships.
Freshman scholarship recipients are determined to the Freshman Scholarship Matrix, according to Melisa Choroszy, Vice President of Enrollment Services. The scholarships come from a general scholarship fund made up of donations to the university, and are given objectively to students if they meet the criteria.
The Freshman Scholarship Matrix calculates an “academic index” for each student based on their unweighted high school GPA at the time of admission and the student’s best college entrance exam score. Both ACT and SAT scores are eligible for consideration. The matrix is used to determine eligibility for Presidential, Nevada Scholars and Pack Pride Level scholarships. The scholarships give students $8,000, $2,500, and $1,500 towards their tuition, respectively.
After the first two years, upperclassmen and continuing students are granted scholarships from their respective colleges.
Leftover funds from the general scholarship fund go to students of colleges that may have little to no money in their scholarship funds, according to Choroszy. Additionally, Choroszy said Financial Aid and Enrollment Services try to give any leftover money to students who may have received scholarships their freshmen year, but didn’t receive any aid as an upperclassman.
“We make them a priority if their college doesn’t have any money at all,” Choroszy said.
The university gave out nearly $25 million in scholarship funds for the 2017-2018 school year, according to scholarship data collected by the university.
Scholarships by race, ethnicity
Data obtained by the Nevada Sagebrush from the university shows the scholarship breakdown by each race and ethnicity as collected by the university.
White and Hispanic students are the largest races represented on campus. White students make up 57.4 percent of the student population and receive 48.93 percent of the total scholarship funds while Hispanic students make up 19.4 percent of the student population and are awarded 13.2 percent of scholarships.
Alaskan Natives and students of unknown ethnic groups are nearly equally represented in population and scholarship awards. Alaskan Natives make up .6 percent of the student population and receive .53 percent of scholarships. Students of unknown ethnic groups make up 2 percent of the student population and receive 1.82 percent of scholarships.
Black students at the university make up 3.2 percent of the student population and are awarded 9.35 percent of scholarships. Foreign students are 2.9 percent of the population and are given 7.98 percent of university scholarships. These discrepancies of the population and scholarship percentage are due to athletic scholarships, as most student-athletes fall into either or both of these categories, according to Choroszy.
There are different programs and organizations at the university that help students of underrepresented groups obtain or become eligible for university scholarships. These include programs such as TRiO and First in the Pack.
TRiO assists low income, first generation students “overcome cultural, academic, class, and social barriers to success in higher education,” according to TRiO’s website. The program is federally funded with an annual budget of $327,916 and is allowed to assist 175 students per year.
First in the Pack works to increase graduation rates among first-generation students. Their services include mentor support, scholarships and financial aid assistance.
Scholarships by college
Upperclassmen and graduate students are awarded scholarships by their respective college each year, and the process of deciding which students get how much money is determined by each college based on the scholarship donations they receive.
The College of Business and the College of Liberal Arts are the largest colleges on campus — representing nearly 35 percent of students combined — and awarded over $3 million scholarships to students in each of the colleges.
The Graduate School awarded $2.8 million in scholarships. In total, the university has 320 graduate students. The Orvis School of Nursing is of similar size and awarded $1.2 million to its 378 students.
The College of Engineering awarded $3.07 million in scholarships amongst its 2,984 students. The College of Science has 2,941 students and awarded $2.4 million, while Community Health Sciences has 2,720 students and awarded nearly $2.5 million.
The College of Education and The College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources houses 1,658 and 1,498 students, and awarded nearly $1.7 million and $1.6 million, respectively.
The Division of Health Sciences awarded $194,530 to 582 students. Comparatively, the Reynolds School of Journalism awarded $473,337 to 526 students.
Scholarships for the 2019-2020 school year will be distributed on 10 days before each semester begins. Students can also receive scholarships from organizations outside the university and from the federal government through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Nevada residents are eligible for the Millennium Scholarship if they meet the general requirements.
PANHELLENIC SORORITIES DISAFFILIATE FROM UNIVERSITY FOLLOWING CONTRACT DISAGREEMENT:
Six panhellenic sororities disaffiliated with the University of Nevada, Reno, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, after declining to sign an annual relationship agreement with the support of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization for 26 national and international sororities. Additionally, the Alpha Epsilon Pi and Pi Kappa Phi fraternities did not sign the agreement.
Alpha Omicron Pi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Pi Beta Phi and Sigma Kappa did not sign the agreement. The sororities immediately lost recognition from the university and were promptly removed from the university’s Fraternity and Sorority Life website.
In an email sent from University Spokeswoman Kerri Garcia to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents, Johnson said it was unlikely the sororities will find a resolution with the university.
“We continue to work with both the individual national chapters and the National Panhellenic Conference but, at this time, do not believe a resolution will take place,” Garcia said in the email.
According to the NPC, they have been in negotiations with the university for six months and requested an extension to sign the contract, which was denied by the university. Extensions were also requested by organizations other than the six Panhellenic sororities, which were also denied by the university.
If the parties do not come to a resolution, the move could affect more than 1,000 students involved in Greek life at the university. Choosing not to receive university recognition means the inability to use university properties and spaces, utilize advising from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life or recruit formally through the university.
Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Megan Pepper said the university is open to communication with the sororities. However, communication does not guarantee recognition, according to Pepper.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life said they did not know exactly why local chapters opted out of signing the agreement.
“You’d have to get that response from them,” Pepper said. “I know conversations that we have had with the National Panhellenic Conference. There has been some concern that has been communicated to us about Section 21 which is the comprehensive report outlining incidences that are managed through the internal standards process and then Section 18 of which is the policy surrounding recognized groups not being permitted to participate or attend events with student organizations or clubs that are not recognized by the university. Both policies were in the agreement last year for 2018 which all of our panel 16 sororities signed and complied with.”
The sororities declined to sign the agreement over concerns of two parts of the agreement.
The first area of concern is a clause requiring the sororities to submit comprehensive reports on their internal conduct investigations. The NPC said “organizations reserve the right to set the standards governing the conduct and discipline of their members and chapters.”
The council was also concerned about the privacy of sexual assault survivors when it came to these reports.
“This requirement includes a mandate for organizations to present to the University the names of members who might have been a victim of sexual assault. NPC is unaware of any other university in the country that requires this,” said a statement from the NPC.
The clause requiring submission of comprehensive reports is the same clause as outlined in the 2018 agreement, according to Pepper.
“We added subsection language through our review process last year…we added clarifying language at the request of multiple local chapters who participated in that process,” Pepper said.
Pepper said the presenting of names was only to be made available when a member was the perpetrator of an act. This includes “allegations of sexual assault, bodily injury or death” against a member of recognized fraternity and sorority life.
Pi Kappa Phi and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternities also declined to sign the agreement. The fraternities “shared critical concerns about the University’s mandate to report individual conduct concerns currently mediated through peer-to-peer chapter processes,” according to a statement from the North American Fraternity Conference.
“This mandate would have a chilling effect on members holding one another accountable to their fraternal expectations and values,” said Senior Director of Communication of the NIC Todd Shelton. “Instead of improving the safety and responsibility in the Reno community, it could do just the opposite. The NIC and its member fraternities spent months providing solutions to alleviate this concern and were rebuffed by the University even after offering alternatives that align with reporting requirements for hundreds of other campuses.”
The second concern stems from the FSL Office’s mandate that recognized sororities and fraternities cannot formally associate with the unrecognized fraternities at the university. Greek life members brought up concerns with this requirement earlier in the school year.
“This is an unnecessarily punitive measure with Constitutional implications. The University has acknowledged this is a requirement for students and organizations to waive First Amendment rights,” the NPC statement said.
The Alpha Tau Omega, Kappa Alpha, Zeta Psi, Kappa Sigma and Theta Chi fraternities disaffiliated with the universityalmost a year ago after not signing the relationship agreement. The fraternities besides Kappa Sigma formed their own fraternity council — the Independent Interfraternity Council — and have continued to operate with the support of their national chapters.
The disaffiliated sororities could potentially form a similar organization supported by the NPC.
“In response to the University’s decision to forgo negotiations toward a mutually-acceptable agreement, NPC and the inter/national organizations with collegiate chapters on the campus will begin work with the six collegiate chapters to form an independent College Panhellenic Association, appoint an advisor and determine the resources needed to ensure that the sorority community continues to thrive in Reno,” said the NPC statement.
The NPC hopes to re-open discussions with the university and negotiate the relationship agreement based on their concerns before forming this association.
“NPC member organizations always strive to be partners to the academic institutions that are the anchors of their chapters and their members’ postsecondary experiences,” said the NPC statement. “In particular, NPC has previously had strong relationships with UN-Reno…While the organizations are prepared to form an independent association, they also stand ready and willing to partner with the UN-Reno administration and urge them to reconsider their position on these issues.”
The university plans to send out letters to the parents of the members of the disaffiliated organizations to inform them of the situation.
“I think it’s an unfortunate situation,” Pepper said. “It’s never the institution’s goal to have groups that choose not to seek university recognition. We know what is best for our campus when it comes to health and safety. And it’s unfortunate, you know in terms of just the philosophical experiences that we might be experiencing or philosophical differences we might be experiencing in our approach to health and safety and that sort of thing. I mean that’s what I would say about it. But we’re looking at the holistic view of our community, the health and safety of our community. And we are really excited about our 24 groups that have signed and we’ll continue supporting them in the best way that we can.”
Frequently asked questions about the disaffiliated organizations can be found here.
STUDENTS FALL TO ARMED ROBBERY, BEATING ON NEVADA STREET:
Two students fell victim to robbery at gunpoint in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, Oct. 6.
After leaving Delta House of Pancakes, a pancake fundraiser at the Delta Delta Delta sorority house, Turner Gustafson and a friend were beaten and mugged on Nevada Street while getting into their car. Before the door could shut, an arm was put into the door to keep it from closing.
“‘Get out of the car and give me everything in your pocket’,” Gustafson told KRNV the suspects said to him and a friend.
The were three suspects in the incident, according to Gustafson in an interview with KRNV. As the first suspect said this to Gustafson, a gun was held to his friend by another suspect. A third suspect began stealing keys, wallets and phones from the boys while the first suspect began beating Gustafson.
“It just happened that quickly to where you couldn’t say anything or do anything — to where you were just helpless,” Gustafson said.
Gustafson was beaten and sustained a concussion, cuts and bruised ribs, according to KTVN. His friend was not hurt in the robbery.
After the suspect stole the belongings from the boys, the suspects returned to their car and drove off.
Gustafson warns of the dangers of walking in dark streets with small groups or alone at night.
“Travel in groups — more than two of you, Gustafson said. “Preferably four. Never by yourself, especially girls. Never by yourself. Be on the lookout.”
After the incident, University Police Services sent an automated message to students to provide safety tips to avoid falling victim to robberies, focusing on the fact that students should be aware of their surroundings.
“Be alert,” University Police Services wrote. “Look around you; be aware of who is on the street and in the area. Make it difficult for anyone to take you by surprise. Look and walk with a confident stride with your head up.”
At time of print, there is no information on the suspects involved in this incident, according to Reno Police Department Officer Travis Warren. Any details or information that could lead to the arrests of the suspects are urged to call Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900.
Olivia Ali 