I love the scary, menacing night photo.

“predicted that public reaction to the incident will reflect poorly on the entire UW Greek system.”

Yeah, that’s the understatement of the century. I can’t wait for all the requisite Greek and UW administration haters to pounce all over this. But here’s the thing this article, the police, and the UW administration isn’t considering: how do they know for sure this was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity that perpetrated the rape? Maybe it was just some random kid that showed up at the party. Or maybe he broke in in the middle of the night. I know these aren’t as likely as the requisite assumption “frat guy rapes girl” — but if the Duke Lacrosse case and Audrey Seiler have taught us anything (I am in no way equating faking your own abduction with rape, just saying it affects people’s perceptions), its that we can’t simply jump to conclusions about what did or didn’t happen in a criminal case BEFORE we know all the facts and the investigation concludes.

Not that it will stop anyone, though. Let the bashing begin.

In America, you are innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, in America, we also have freedom of the press that can produce smoke screens and ruin reputations. Don’t believe me? How about the Duke LaCrosse skank? Let’s not be hasty here and jump to any conclusions. Zeta Psi members have the right to Due Process. If this article sparks an investigation, great. But remember, regardless of the outcome, someone’s gonna be scarred for life, be it that girl who allegedly was assulted, or Zeta Psi, who may just have been subject to an unwarrented public smeer.

Well, that’s frat boys for ya. All white, all Republican, and they’re always right about everything. And the most arrogant thing of all, THEY’RE INNOCENT!!!

Gimme a break.

So UW is investigating, even though the victim has not contacted UW officials??? How ridiculous is that?

It’s about as ridiculous as a girl dropping out of school, when she’s obviously lying right? And of course it was a frat boy who did it in the frat house during a frat party!? Give me a break, to anyone and everyone who’s ever been to a frat party this comes as no surprise.

There is no evidence or reporting here. Instead you’ve completely tarnished a school organization and embarrassed a group of students so people will read your paper. Way to go.

I have known the people who have lived in that house over the past 5+ years. Women have generally felt comfortable at their parties, liking them because the frat has always treated them with respect. I’ve heard from many saying they’re not the “typical frat” and that when women go there they don’t “feel like a piece of meat.”

That being said, rape is a serious CAMPUS-WIDE issue, and the media is doing it a great disservice by focusing on this frat, which may or may not be guilty. Unfortunately, rape is generally faceless. A fraternity is one of the few tangible targets for which advocates and those against rape (shouldn’t we all be) can lash out against and hold up as an example.

My call would be to use this example to examine the issue of rape campuswide and not just try to destroy this fraternity.

take a good hard look at that fraternity before you bash it for being your soo called all-white all-republican. Honestly, they are the most diverse house on campus. You dont believe me, take a look at their photo they have above their fireplace. Go ahead and proclaim your own thoughts, but you are just proving your own ignorance and stupidity.

As for the story itself, there are always three sides. Yours, theirs, and the truth.

Wow, the annoynmous quote about frats being all white, all republican, etc…very intelligent. you have obviously figured out everything. your stereotypes must be true and it was obviously someone who is always right and incredibly arrogant. no one good was ever in a fraternity and nothing ever good came from the greek system. plus, rapes never happen outside of fraternities and fraternity members. your gross stereotype. it’s people like you who consistently burn the greek system at the stake before anything is ever investigated. also, i’m not a greek.

Not everyone who lives in the house is actually a member of the fraternity. I know many of the men of Zeta Psi, and I know they rent out rooms to people who arent members of their chapter. The article does not make it clear if it was an actual member of the fraternity, someone who boards there, or a young man attending the party who lives somewhere else on campus. This makes their chapter look horrible without being clear as to who is being accused of assault. It’s a poorly written article and could have severe ramifications which the chapter may not deserve. Also, the organization isnt “fairly new to campus”, they have been here for many years.

I would agree that the public should not jump to conclusions, and guilt should be proven through due process. But it is an exaggeration to make Frats seem as though they are some kind of poor scapegoat. There is a reason they have a the date rape reputation and have to go through things like dating violence and assault education. The reputation did not it come out of thin air, yes maybe its exaggerated, but there are issues to deal with.

Wow it seems now that no matter what comes from this “investigation,” this fraternity will suffer whether or not this incident really did occur. Of course if the alledged victim really did get raped then someone should be held accountable, but it seems all this article has helped accomplish is slander what seems to be a respectable organization on this campus. For now this paper and school need to use caution and uncover more facts in this story before jumping to any more conclusions. For all we know this investigation by UW officials is just another excuse for it to crap on the Greek system.

I saw a story about this on the news on monday night. I was only half paying attention, but i’m pretty sure i heard them say that the alleged victim is certain that no members of the fraternity or residents in the house were involved.

"We have not had any contact with the victim — we certainly would be interested in meeting with her."

Do you think maybe you should have met with her before printing this article that hurts the reputation of her friends? Ever consider that there may be a reason she just went to the police and not to the university?

do you guys realize that her rape test turned up completly negative the next day? Since when do allegations get a frat kicked off campus?

I completely agree with the post above, the girl clearly wants anonymity as she didnt go to the university. youre article pretty much just ruined any shot at their future here on campus without ANY proof whatsoever, you made a bunch of calls to people who weren’t even at the situation and wrote an article, now thats some great journalism. how bout you talk to the person who there, or someone actually in the fratnerity, ohh wait that would be to much work for you guys and no one would read your crappy paper anyways

New UW Policy: The $5 cover charge gets you a red plastic cup and a chastity belt.

Honestly this article is slander.

1. That girl brought her own alcohol.
2. She made her own drinks

Does that mean that she wasn’t raped? No Does that mean that it was definitely a person there? No

Honestly the Badger Herald should think before it publishes.

As a clarification, Greeks do not “have to go through things like dating violence and assault education.” We set up these programs because we want to make a positive difference. Many of us realize that things like this may have been an issue in the past, and we are trying to fix that. I also hope that more people out there seek to understand before jumping to conclusions, whether it’s with Greeks or anything else. Just like almost anything in life, one can learn a lot more by seeking to understand than by coming in with all the answers.

Obviously you posters are all very close to the fraternity, because if you were truly an objective reader you’d notice that it doesn’t say anywhere that any of your frat boys did it. It says it could have happened at their house. TRUE. It says they are contacting people who were there (not just your frat boys). TRUE. Get over yourself, just because Daddy can’t pay to erase this article doesn’t mean it’s trash.

“Well, that’s frat boys for ya. All white, all Republican, and they’re always right about everything. And the most arrogant thing of all, THEY’RE INNOCENT!!!”

Not only is the above quote ridiculously arrogant on its own, but it’s obviously a perfect example of ignorance. Are you saying that African-American fraternities or professional fraternities are made up of all-white, all-Republican frat boys? Apparently you’re happing making gross generalizations about organizations you don’t even care to understand. Instead, it sounds like your take on it is “White and Republican until proven innocent.”

“Berquam said the alleged sexual assault comes after many efforts to inform Greek members about dating violence and assault.”

No, they do not flat out say that it was a Greek member who allegedly perpetrated the act, but if YOU read the article objectively you would notice that statements like this imply it was a member and that the article is incredibly damaging to the group of students no matter who reads it despite a lack of any evidence or corroboration whatsoever.

I think this is the most gross example of SENSATIONALISTIC JOURNALISM ever witnessed since Mr. McLuhen wrote about a boat or something. You guys are trying to sell papers at the expense of tarnishing the image of this outstanding student org. Hope you sleep well at night. You are what’s wrong with journalism.

So I’m a girl not at all associated with this fraternity and I think that this article is doing way too much harm. A lot of people won’t even read the whole article, all they’ll take away from it is that “a zeta psi member raped a girl”. I have also heard that the frat wasn’t at all involved, nor were it’s members, but it’s too late. You just shit all over their reputation. Maybe you should find out what really happened before writing things like this.

Post 2:35 pm; please, please, please tell me you are not a student at UW. If you are, how on earth did you get in? You have the audacity to criticize the paper and yet, you cannot write a clear and grammatically correct sentence. As for your comments, the paper does not assert that any of it is true. Please look up the word “alleged.” Do you want the paper to only report what has gone through the courts with a final outcome?

And to post 3:30 pm. Look up the definition of “slander” please. The article is reporting that an investigation has begun, which is true. It does not report that the rape took place, it does not give individual names, it does not imply that it was a fraternity member. It states “partygoers …are being investigated.”

Honestly, you need to learn how to read before you judge and not worry so much about what the Herald Publishes.

“Obviously you posters are all very close to the fraternity, because if you were truly an objective reader you’d notice that it doesn’t say anywhere that any of your frat boys did it.”” I am sorry. I believe using the word obviously and your overall tone denote a complete lack of objectivity. And as far as what i have read thus far, it’s been more to discredit the posting of the all white and all republican comment. Shame that an article will only be remembered as one reader put it, some girl got raped at that frat house on breese.

Funny how a horrible event such as this associated within the greek context, albiet only allegedly, draws more attention and criticism then the verified police reports of the many UW athletes caught in abusing girlfriends and fellow teammates.

Anyone else remember a former great running back getting stabbed by a girl that he had previously been charged with battery by police for assaulting her. It’s all greek to me

This article did a great job working with only minimum details available. I think all the Greeks should get a hold of themselves and chill out. If there’s an investigation, I’d say it’s worth me knowing about it, especially if its an alleged rape. Note the “alleged.” Also, how come no one here is mentioning that this story broke in a WAY bigger story on WKOW first? Sensationalistic? Get over yourself.

“a lot of people won’t even read the whole article” - that’s their problem then isn’t it? aren’t they supposed to be informed news readers?

Yeah so I was the guy who mentioned Due Process, and right to Trial by Jury. I am white, DEMOCRAT, and love the company of all people, regardless of race and wealth.
also… To the person that called me a FRAT BOY, remember this, do you call your country a CU%T? WELL THEN DONT CALL A FRATERNITY A FRAT. GO F%CK YOURSELF AND YOUR MURDERER-FREEING LEAFLETS, YOU PIECE OF CLOSED-MINDED SHIT.

This article is hideously irresponsible. Badger Herald editors should be ashamed.

This is what has happened this past semester in both the DC and BH. Why? No student really cares. No student organization will call them out, no one from the UW admin cares, and so it continues. Who to blame? Omar and Hughes (top dogs @ both papers). They seriously need to look deeper at their news writers.

All the comments critcizing the Herald are so off base. All they did was report on the allegations, not make any allegations. Is it too bad that the frat’s reputation may take a hit, but that is not the fault of the Herald. End of story.

I would like to commend the Daily Cardinal on their initial coverage of this story…they actually reported the story as is should have been: Woman upset with Madison Police about alleged sexual assault investigation.

Priorities—a woman is allegedly raped, and the most important thing here is…the reputation of the Greek system…and the possible tarnishing thereof is proof of gross journalistic negligence and malfeasance? Think carefully for ten seconds about how this would look if it was your sister who was making the allegations, instead of your fraternity’s precious reputation that was on the line.

“Anyone else remember a former great running back getting stabbed by a girl that he had previously been charged with battery by police for assaulting her? It’s all Greek to me.”

Agreed. Of course people are going to look past violations by athletes: they make money for the school, fraternities don’t! As long as athletes do well on the playing field, their personal lives will be overlooked. When they stop doing well, that’s when other factors are brought up. Fraternities don’t have that luxury of the “Athletic Code Violation” coverall, nor the chance of running for 100-yds or scoring the game-winning 3 to get people back on their side the week after getting bad press.

I hope you take a page out of that poor little girl’s book and LEAVE UW. YOU MORON.

I personally know several people who were involved with this incident, and there is a lot more to this story than is being reported. The girl in question may have had motivation to try and slander several members of the fraternity. Not that she shouldn’t be taken seriously, since this is obviously a very serious crime; something definitely could have happened to her. All I will say is that she had motivation to possibly try to harm several members of the group.

this is gay