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Boys' Bid Night: "This Is About Much More Than A Party"

A Rolling Stone story of gang rape at the University of Virginia has been discredited, and fraternities in Charlottesville are welcoming their new members, but another controversy now surrounds the school’s greek community.  

Boys' Bid Night is a celebration of new men accepting membership in a fraternity, and women from UVA sororities are always invited to join, but this year they’re under strict orders from national presidents to stay clear of frat houses tonight.  Based on the response, you might think UVA sorority women were fans of the Beastie Boys.

“You gotta’ fight for your right to party.”

In fact, students like Sara Surface say this is about much more than a party.

Sara Surface

“This is not an issue of we’re angry because we can’t go out and drink.  It’s an issue over whether or not we have the choice.”

And Caelan Fortes argues that banning participation in one party really doesn’t address root problems.

“I think it’s unfair to say that because girls are running around, and there is alcohol involved and there is a penchant for hooking up under these circumstances that we should just ignore the reasons why assault happens and slap sort of a chastity belt solution on the situation.”

Boys’ Bid Night may sound like risky business, but Surface, who’s been active in rape prevention programs on campus, says sorority women take precautions while going from one frat house to the next. 

“People are assigned buddies to have them look out for each other.  You stay in groups.” 

She has personally helped to educate hundreds of sorority women about how to intervene in situations where friends are at risk and thinks parties would be safer if sorority members were there.  Fellow UVA student Sofia McKewen Moreno adds that even the matching tops women wear on Bid Night help to protect them.

“They look like we’re just trying to show off that we’re in sororities, which to some degree I’m sure is true, but when you see a woman in a tiffany blue tank top in the back of the room with a guy that she doesn’t know too drunk, and you’re wearing that same shirt, you know to go to her.”

She and Surface declined to say which sororities they belong to, but they defied a ban on talking with reporters to express their objections.  They say  older women who run national sororities don’t share the values of their members.

Sofia McKewen Moreno

“I think that a lot of these national organizations are not used to the university tradition of self governance, but that’s something we hold very dear to our hearts here and will continue to fight for.”

“The whole idea of ‘what was she wearing, what was she doing, where was she and who with is not a concept that’s even talked about in a serious manner, and so to have a policy that specifically addresses who are you with, what are you wearing, and where are you going -- it does come off as a slap in the face.”

She plans to observe the ban but hopes officials will consult local chapters before taking future actions.  Meanwhile, UVA’s student council was deluged with complaints and voted unanimously against the restriction.  Representative Abraham Axler says national sororities have long complained that women are used to lure new members to fraternities.

“I believe what they did was they took a chaotic and emotional time in the University of Virginia’s history as an opportunity to pass something that they’ve been trying to do forever.”

He and other council leaders asked national sorority presidents to discuss the matter, but they declined.  University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan affirmed her belief in students’ right to self-governance.  She  said women looking for fun might consider skipping Boys’ Bid Night in favor of tonight’s basketball game in which number two ranked UVA faces its traditional rival, fourth ranked Duke.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief
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