17-year-old alleges she was raped twice, blames Fresno State fraternity culture

Fresno and Sanger police are investigating allegations of sexual assault after a Fresno State student posted a video on YouTube outlining two incidents that she says happened over Super Bowl weekend and are connected to Greek life at the university.

After the student posted the video, Fresno State announced the suspension of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. On Wednesday, The Bee learned the Phi Mu sorority also was suspended.

The student, who is 17 and a college freshman, calls out in her video the university’s Greek community for rape culture and silencing victims. She says she hopes sharing her story will encourage other survivors to come forward.

Student’s video

In the video posted to YouTube on March 3, the Fresno State student outlines the events at two parties that she alleges each ended in rape.

She shared her name, but The Bee does not name alleged victims of rape or sexual assault. The student also is a minor.

The teen says she attended a party at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house on Jan. 31 with her Phi Mu sorority sisters. The fraternity house is located just west of Bulldog Stadium.

She believes her drink was spiked, and she blacked out. The last thing she remembers before blacking out is a door slamming and someone locking it. She regained consciousness while a guy she met that night was sexually assaulting her. She pushed him off and got dressed.

When she got home that night, she vomited and urinated on herself. She spent the next day piecing together what happened and working to find her cell phone.

On Super Bowl Sunday, an old friend who also attended the fraternity party invited her to his family’s Super Bowl party in Sanger. He ordered her an Uber, and they started drinking soon after she arrived. By the end of the game, she estimated she drank six or seven beers. Then she remembers “shot-gunning” beers and drinking from a beer bong.

The next morning she woke up. The man who invited her over told her they had sex and she got mad and told him to get away from her and ran into the closet.

After hearing him recount the events from the night, the teen felt she might have a panic attack and asked to go to the emergency room. Instead, the man suggested they go for a walk. Later, a friend picked her up.

By Wednesday, Feb. 5, she decided to report both incidents to police. She took written statements and other evidence to the Fresno State Police Department and underwent a rape kit at the Family Healing Center.

She says she created the video in hopes it would help speed up the criminal investigations and bring justice to the alleged perpetrators.

Police investigations

Fresno State police turned over the case to the Fresno Police Department because the incident happened off campus. That investigation is underway, Lt. Mark Hudson confirmed. He could not name any suspects in the case, and no arrests have been made.

Sanger police also are investigating the allegations and are waiting for the return of “certain results” before naming any suspects or making any arrests, Sgt. Ralph Salazar said.

“I’m not OK with them just getting away with it, so I’m speaking out,” the Fresno Sate student says in the YouTube video. “I’m also speaking out for … all the survivors who have not said anything and are scared to.”

The teen says she tried to report the incidents to Fresno State’s Title IX office. The two times she stopped by the office, it was closed.

“I felt like nobody’s going to be here for me,” she told The Bee.

Later, someone from the Title IX office connected with her. She was offered counseling services from the university, but chose to seek other options because it’s difficult for her to be on campus, she says.

“I dropped out of school. I dropped out of Phi Mu. I lost many friends,” she said in the video.

Teen criticizes Greek community and rape culture

In an interview with The Bee, the teen said she graduated high school early to attend college. She joined a sorority to make friends.

She concluded from her time in the sorority that sexual assault and date rape were common in Greek life, she said. The Greek community silences survivors and hides wrongdoing, she said. Even though sororities and fraternities market themselves as philanthropic organizations, that’s a small part of it, she said, calling the organizations “useless.”

“It’s created more negatives than positives,” she said.

After telling a sorority sister and fraternity member about the sexual assaults, the teen said they told her to “think about the consequences” of reporting what happened. And her experience was never brought up at any weekly Monday meetings her sorority held, she said.

“I also want to say that the Greek community is a community of rape culture,” she says in her video. “A lot of girls in the Greek community and in the sororities have their own stories to say, and I hope this inspires you to come out or to get help.”

After she posted her video, many women in and out of the Greek community reached out to her sharing similar experiences, she said.

“People are still trying to defend the Greek community on social media. What is there to defend?” she said in her interview with The Bee. “There’s so many predators there. It’s normalized. The reason nobody says anything is because it’s normalized.”

Fresno State and Greek response

After the video garnered attention on social media, Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro announced the suspension of Kappa Sigma and condemned crimes such as sexual assault.

“Violent crimes of any kind, particularly sexual assault, are heinous and despicable, regardless of location and circumstances,” he said in a statement. “They are in direct contradiction to our university values that are based on respect for the integrity of every individual. We will continue to do everything in our power to protect and support victims of these crimes.”

The university follows California State University’s system-wide procedures and harassment policies and is prohibited by federal privacy laws from releasing information about students or commenting on investigations.

Fresno State is cooperating with law enforcement investigations, the statement said.

“While fraternities and sororities are recognized student organizations, they must comply with campus policies even though they are governed by a national organization who are separate, independent legal entities,” said Carolyn Coon, dean of students and acting vice president for Student Affairs. “At Fresno State, Greek organizations who have chapter houses reside on private off-campus property, which explains why the Fresno Police Department is conducting the police investigation.”

A person who answered the phone number listed for the Fresno State Kappa Sigma chapter declined to comment for this story, citing an ongoing investigation.

The Phi Mu sorority trains chapter presidents and directors on how to best support survivors, and the sorority provides information about campus resources, said Jackie Isaacson, the director of communications for the Phi Mu national headquarters. The sorority’s policy for alcohol consumption follows state and federal laws.

The former Phi Mu member who was allegedly raped told her chapter president about the incident, according to Isaacson.

“The chapter president shared options with her, such as going with her to the police to seek medical assistance,” Isaacson said in an email to The Bee. “The president wanted to empower (the survivor) to make the decisions that were best for her, including decisions about her membership status.”

The Fresno State student took issue with portions of this account. She said her sorority president did send her a text message that was empowering. But the teen did not get the impression her sorority president offered to go with her to the police.

Breanne Scogin, coordinator for fraternity and sorority life for Fresno State responded on Wednesday to the comments about rape culture, echoing Castro’s condemnations of sexual assault.

She also revealed that Fresno State’s Phi Mu chapter on March 6 was placed on interim suspension, in addition to Kappa Sigma’s suspension which was announced March 5. The fraternity and sorority were suspended “to allow for their review in light of the serious allegations made against them,” she said in the statement.

“Fraternal organizations, including those represented at Fresno State, seek to develop, educate, and empower young men and women; such acts of violence are counter to this mission,” she said in the statement.

Resources for survivors

At Fresno State

Fresno State’s Confidential Advocacy Services provide confidential support, resources and referral services. To reach a campus confidential survivor advocate, call 559-278-6796.

Fresno State’s Title IX office covers sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual misconduct, stalking, domestic violence, rape and sexual assault and gender equality in athletics. To make a report, fill out this form or contact the Title IX office at 559-278-5357.

To report an incident to Fresno State Police Department, call 559-278-8400.

Community resources

For Rape Counseling Services, call the 24/7 hotline at 559-222-7273.

The Marjaree Mason Center provides emergency and longer-term safe housing, along with a wide variety of support services, for victims of domestic violence in Fresno County. Call 559-237-4706 or the 24-hour crisis line at 559-233-4357 (HELP)

Law enforcement

To report incidents of sexual violence to Fresno Police Department’s sexual assault unit, call 559-621-2460.

To report sex crimes to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, contact Lt. Jose Salinas at 559-600-8029 or email him at jose.salinas@fresnosheriff.org.

This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 2:25 PM.

Brianna Vaccari

The Fresno Bee

559-441-6166

Brianna Vaccari covers Fresno City Hall for The Bee, where she works to hold public officials accountable and shine a light on issues that deeply affect residents’ lives. She previously worked for The Bee’s sister paper, the Merced Sun-Star, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Fresno State.