“He may be drunk, but she’s drunk too, so it’s fine.” That’s what the vice president of one fraternity at the University of Memphis said to Sara Hennan, a former student at the university, after she tried to stop what she perceived as a potential sexual assault waiting to happen by one of the fraternity’s members against another female student.
Hennan had allegedly been sexually assaulted by the same member in April, just a few months prior.
Last Wednesday, in hopes of getting the fraternity removed from campus, Hennan and a few of her friends held a protest on campus.
At least four women have now come forward admitting that they too have been sexually assaulted by members of the fraternity, Hennan said. Although she said that she was uncertain, Hennan said that she believes most of the incidents took place between the end of last year and the beginning of this year. She declined to identify which fraternity it was.
“Legally, I don’t want to share the name because I am waiting to hear back from the university about our further plan of action,” Hennan said.
Hennan said that her incident took place on April 9 after leaving a party that was held to celebrate her birthday that came the day before. After having a good time with friends, Hennan said that she expressed to them that she would not be able to drive home. She said that her alleged abuser then pressed another fraternity member for the keys to her car and drove her home. She got into bed for the night then woke up to him on top of her- a feeling she describes as “difficult.”
A couple of months after the incident, Hennan reached out to MPD, a lawyer and the U of M. She contacted the university about holding an event on campus where she could continue telling her story.
“I called the school and got transferred a couple of times before signing a form and picking the date and time to hold the protest,” Hennan said.
While they were hoping to have their voices heard, the group of friends were given a list of restrictions when it came to their protest. “They told us there could be no amplified voices- like music or megaphones. No excessive yelling. We can’t approach other students or bombard people with brochures or flyers,” said Hennan.
It is not clear if this is standard for all free speech events held on campus. A spokesperson for the university’s conference and event services that the protest was scheduled through declined to comment.
They still made the most out of their gathering, however, by playing their music low and talking to as many people as possible.
A circle filled with posters and lined with black rope quickly drew the attention of several UofM students. Some didn’t even ask questions. After reading signs that were about rape all they had to say was, “Where do I sign?” or “What do I need to do?”
Others had a bit more to say. They even held up signs willingly to show their support of the cause. Some of the reactions were things said like, “You’re very brave,” and “I’m going to be mad about this all day, seriously,” and even “Get rid of them before there’s more incidents.”
Gracie Rech, who helped Hennan with creating and hosting the event, took issue with the university’s response to Hennan’s complaint.
“It just doesn’t feel like enough is done if it takes a whole month to hear anything,” she said.
Beyond the protest, Hennan also started an online petition to speed up the process of removing the fraternity. At this point, it has received 207 signatures. A tab called ‘reasons for signing’ appears under the signatures and has responses that say things like, “Because too many women have been assaulted and traumatized because of this fraternity’s actions and the university’s inaction,” and “I am a sexual assault victim.”
Since going public with her story, Hennan said that she believes she has been blacklisted by the fraternity. This includes allegedly being banned from the frat house, blocked on social media by the members and no longer being able to have contact with them.
Because many of the alleged victims are choosing to remain anonymous at this point, indicting the fraternity or its members with wrongdoing could be difficult. Furthermore, even if they are removed from campus like Hennan has campaigned for, it wouldn’t necessarily come with the automatic expulsion of its members as well.
Hennan said that she is unsure of what form of justice she is seeking but said she is looking at her options.
