Late Tuesday (April 30) night, the two fraternities at Swarthmore College – Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon – unanimously disbanded. This is as a result of student-organized protests that have been happening since the weekend.
The protests came about due to documents released last month by Swarthmore’s two campus publications. The documents leaked by The Phoenix and Voices seem to be internal ones from the Phi Psi fraternity, and they include language against minority groups, and detail sexual assault and rape incidents that happened in both fraternities.
Both publications received the information from an anonymous source. Additionally, although the documents were dated from 2012/2013 to 2016, some Swarthmore students say that kind of culture still exists.
Protestors occupy Phi Psi’s house
As such, starting on Saturday, protestors occupied Phi Psi’s on-campus house (sleeping on mattresses and sleeping bags that they brought) and camped outside of the house in tents.
YouTube (CBS This Morning)According to a BBC article, “Organizing for Survivors (O4S) and the Swarthmore Coalition Against Fraternity Violence, which arranged the protest, called on Swarthmore to terminate the leases of both fraternities and ban them from campus.” Protestors want the properties to be given to marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and women.
What did Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon do?
Phi Psi was the primary offender, with videos and images (provided by the anonymous source) showing racist, homophobic and sexist comments being made, and fraternity brothers inappropriately kissing, groping and touching women. “The redacted, 117-page documents include ‘meeting minutes’ and details of pledging rituals from 2012-16,” the BBC article said. “They feature racist, misogynistic and homophobic language and accounts of physical and sexual assaults, and bravado about buying ‘date rape’ drugs.”
A 6abc article added that the documents also included jokes about sexual assault, as well as “videos and photos of sexual encounters where all parties may not have known they were being recorded.”
According to the BBC article, Phi Psi was actually suspended from the college in 2016 – they violated the drugs and alcohol policy. However, a year ago, the fraternity reopened for parties.
As for Delta Upsilon, the documents noted a ‘rape attic’. “The ‘minutes’ also allege that Delta Upsilon ‘have both a rape tunnel AND a rape attic (gotta choose one or the other)’,” the BBC article said.
Morgin Goldberg, a senior at Swarthmore, says she was sexually assaulted as a freshman by a Phi Psi fraternity member. According to a CBS News article, she showed them the room she was assaulted in, and compared it to the Delta Upsilon ‘rape attic’.
According to a New York Times article, Goldberg “said that the presence of the so-called rape attic has been known around campus for years, and that she had notified administrators of the dangers of locked rooms in fraternity houses on at least 20 occasions.”
YouTube (CBS This Morning)Goldberg was quoted in the New York Times article as saying “‘I’ve told the fraternity liaison…I’ve told the dean of conduct, I’ve told the old dean of students, I’ve told the new dean of students, I’ve told the president’.”
Both Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon posted a message on their Facebook pages late Tuesday night, explaining that they were disbanding and apologizing for the actions of the fraternity.
Facebook (SwarthmorePhiPsiFraternity)
Facebook (swatdu)
