March 14, 2011
Dear President Nikias:
On March 8, we were made aware of the email allegedly being circulated by the USC chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity when it appeared in national news outlets. Many of us were forwarded the article on the issue on jezebel.com by friends and colleagues outside the university.
That the reprehensible views of women and people of color propagated in the email casts the entire university community in a negative light goes without saying, but what compels us to write today is an even more serious issue. Amid the various hateful statements the author makes, he encourages his fellow fraternity brothers to use drugs and alcohol to incapacitate the women they date, telling these young men that “Non-consent and rape are two different things.” This statement goes beyond hate speech; it is an incitement to sexual violence. What was most shocking about the article was that the USC administration has announced that they will not conduct an investigation of the author, or the organization involved in disseminating this email until the national fraternity has completed its own internal investigation.
Some of us, in our daily interactions with undergraduate students at USC as graduate instructors, have had female undergraduates express confusion, anxiety and fear about the prevalent threat of sexual violence at Greek events on and near the USC campus, and have described dismissive treatment by the USC officials from whom they seek help. Others of us have faced recalcitrance from the administration when reporting hate speech against women in our own classrooms. Despite the many exemplary men and women involved with the Greek system at USC, this public embarrassment has revealed both the presence of a culture of sexual violence within the Greek system at USC, and that system’s failure to eradicate that culture on its own. While this atmosphere of animosity toward women is certainly not unique to USC, failing to respond to such an overt catalyst for discussion of these issues would be a disservice to the university. We believe that USC must take action in the wake of this event to achieve four goals:
1) A full and transparent investigation, led by the administration rather than a Greek undergraduate organization, of the author of the email (if he is indeed a USC student—contrary to the findings of the IFC, recent published reports have suggested that he may be), the individuals involved in disseminating it, and the organization to which they belong.
2) Appropriate disciplinary action being taken against the individuals and organization involved in the production of this incitement to sexual violence, including the issuance of a formal apology to the university community from the fraternity to which the author belonged.
3) The creation of a university-wide forum for the discussion of how hate speech against women and sexual violence is reported and investigated on campus.
4) The issuance of a statement from the administration to the university community condemning the statements made in the email and clarifying avenues of redress available to the targets of hate speech and the victims of sexual violence within the university community.
We look forward to opening the dialogue on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Nada Ayad, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Samantha Carrick, Graduate Student, Department of English
Lauren Elmore, Graduate Student, Department of English
Fox Henry Frazier, Graduate Student, Department of English
Lisa Locascio, Graduate Student, Department of English
Stephen Pasqualina, Graduate Student, Department of English
Terry Winningham, Graduate Student, Department of English
Alex Young, Graduate Student, Department of English
Eike Exner, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Patricia E. Nelson, Graduate Student, Department of English
Elizabeth Wilcox, Graduate Student, Department of English
Chris Belcher, Graduate Student, Department of English
Lindsay Nelson, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Matthew Carrillo-Vincent, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English & Gender Studies
Srinivas Venkata, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English
Roxanne Samer, Graduate Student, Critical Studies Department
Jennifer Ansley, Graduate Student, Department of English
Eugene Sanchez, Graduate Student, Department of English
Samuel Solomon, Graduate Student, Comparative Literature
Jackson Bliss, Graduate Student, Department of English
Ricardo Wilson, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Megan Carroll, Graduate Student, Department of Sociology
Demetrios Psihopaidas, Graduate Student, Department of Sociology
Anthony Abboreno, Graduate Student, Department of English
James Michael Bennett, Graduate Student, Department of English
Garrett Broad, Doctoral Student, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Phillip A. Lobo, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Amanda Weldy Boyd, Graduate Student, Department of English
Alexandrina Agloro, PhD student, Annenberg School for Communication
Jose Navarro, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English
Stewart Grace, Graduate Student, Department of English
Lauren Weindling, Graduate Student Comparative Literature Department
Chinmayi Sirsi, Graduate Student, Department of English
Lacey Schauwecker, Graduate Student, Comparative Literature
Judith De Tar, Graduate Student, Department of English
Jonathan Hamrick, Graduate Student, Department of English
M. Barbara Mello, PhD Candidate in English
Lauren Frank, Graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Meryl Alper, Doctoral Student, USC Annenberg
Shaoling Ma, Ph.D Candidate, Department of Comparative Literature
Andrew Schrock, Ph.D Student, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Charlotte Lapsansky, PhD Candidate, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Jaclyn Selby, Doctoral Student, Annenberg School for Communication
Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, Graduate Student, Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism
Tina Sohaili, Recent Graduate, USC Law School
Mary Ann Davis, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English & Gender Studies
Katharine Zimolzak, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English
Beth L. Boser, Doctoral Student, Annenberg School for Communication
Ioana Literat, PhD Student, Annenberg School of Communication
Inna Arzumanova, PhD Student, Communication Department
Erika Wenstrom, Graduate Student, English Language and Literature
Ray Vichot, Doctoral Student, Annenberg School of Communication
Yvonne Georgina Puig, Assistant Lecturer, The Writing Program
Janel S. Schuh, Doctoral Candidate, Annenberg School of Communication
Alexis Lothian, PhD Candidate, Department of English
Katharine Wells, Graduate Student, Department of Art History
Susannah Nevison, Recent Graduate, Departments of Creative Writing and French
Regena Pauketat, Graduate Student, Department of Critical Studies, School of Cinematic Arts
Elise Suklje Martin, Graduate Student, Department of English
Allie Noyes, Doctoral Student, Annenberg School for Communication
Tal Peretz, Doctoral Student, Department of Sociology
Laurel Felt, Graduate Student, Department of Communication
Caterina Crisci, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Shayna Kessel, Graduate Student, Department of English
Cody Todd, PhD Candidate, Departments of English and Thematic Option College Honors
Lee Jameson, MA Candidate, Department of Critical Studies, SCA
Hernan Ramirez, Graduate Student, Department of Sociology
Carol Muske-Dukes, Professor, Department of Literature and Creative Writing; California Poet Laureate
Michael Cucher, Graduate Student, English
Sandra Gruner-Domic, Lecturer, Departments of Sociology and Gender Studies
Scott Reding, Graduate Student, Department of English
Carmen Gonzalez, Doctoral Candidate, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Stacy Gnall, Graduate Student, Department of English
Alexis Landau, Graduate Student, Department of English
Jennifer Barager, PhD Candidate, English Department
Jerome Edwards, Assistant Professor, The Writing Program
Nisha Kunte, Doctoral Candidate, American Studies and Ethnicity
Kevin Egan, Assistant Professor, The Writing Program
Diana Arterian, Recent Graduate and Incoming PhD student, Department of English
Ingrid Leventhal, Graduate Student, Departments of French and Italian
Max Greenberg, Graduate Student, Department of Sociology
Justin Bibler, Graduate Student, Department of English
David Lloyd, Professor, Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Brandon Som, Graduate Student, Department of English
Jolie Chea, Graduate Student, Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
Dana Goodyear, Lecturer, Master of Professional Writing Program
David Stein, Graduate Student, Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
Sriya Shrestha, Doctoral Student, American Studies and Ethnicity
Huibin Amee Chew, Graduate Student, American Studies & Ethnicity
Reina Fukuda, Graduate Student, School of Policy, Planning and Development
Sabina Zuniga Varela, Graduate Student, School of Theatre
Cecilia Woloch, Lecturer, Department of English
Hannah Smith, Graduate Student, Department of Urban Planning
Jessi Quizar, Graduate Student, Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
Yushi Yamazaki, Graduate Student, Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
Carolyn Lee, Graduate Student, East Asian Area Studies
Lucille Toth, Graduate Student, Departments of French and Italian
Sandra Kim, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Nic John F. Ramos, Doctoral Student, Department of American Studies & Ethnicity
Michela Musto, Graduate Student, Department of Sociology
Emily Hobson, USC College Distinguished Teaching Fellow, Departments of American Studies & Ethnicity and of History
Emily Hobson, USC College Distinguished Teaching Fellow, Departments of American Studies & Ethnicity and of History
Umayyah Eleanor Cable, Doctoral Student, Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
Jih-Fei Cheng, Doctoral Student, Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
Evren Savci, Graduate Student, Departments of Sociology & Gender Studies
Matthew Mendez, Graduate Student, Department of Political Science and International Relations
Simon Radford, Graduate Student, Department of Political Science and International Relations
Laura Yen, Graduate Student, Department of Political Science and International Relations
Danielle Thorpe, Graduate Student, School of Theatre
Yuko Konno, Graduate Student, Department of History
Nicole Giannella, Graduate Student, Classics Department
Janalynn Bliss, Creative Writing Graduate Coordinator, Dept of English; Graduate Student,
Rossier School of Education & Gender Studies
Molly Bendall, Assistant Professor, Dept of English
Tania Modleski, Professor, Dept of English
Rebecca Lemon, Associate Professor, Dept of English; Director, USC Institute for British and Irish Studies
Aimee Bender, Associate Professor, Dept of English
Dana Johnson, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Velina Hasu Houston, Professor, Dept of Theatre
MÃchel Angela Martinez, Ph.D. Student of Human Rights and Visual Culture, Politics and International Relations Program
Molly Bendall, Assistant Professor, Dept of English
Tania Modleski, Professor, Dept of English
Rebecca Lemon, Associate Professor, Dept of English; Director, USC Institute for British and Irish Studies
Aimee Bender, Associate Professor, Dept of English
Dana Johnson, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Velina Hasu Houston, Professor, Dept of Theatre
Susan McCabe, Professor, Department of English
David Roman, Professor, Departments of English and American Studies & EthnicityMÃchel Angela Martinez, Ph.D. Student of Human Rights and Visual Culture, Politics and International Relations Program
Carolyn O'Neill, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature
Ellen Shiau, Graduate Student, School of Policy, Planning, and Development
