After getting the green light from the Delta Kappa Epsilon national organization last week, DKE’s Yale chapter plans to resume social activities and rush events in a little over two weeks, even after the News on Tuesday reported new allegations of sexual misconduct against the fraternity.
DKE will return to business as usual once it implements a series of reforms — including the introduction of coed bouncers and bartenders at parties, maximum-house-occupancy guidelines and improved drinking-water access — that its working group finalized on Feb. 9.
Earlier this semester, DKE suspended all social events pending an investigation by its national investigation, after the News and Business Insider reported that former DKE president Luke Persichetti had been suspended by Yale for “penetration without consent.” Last week, the national organization concluded that investigation. But on Tuesday, the News reported sexual misconduct allegations against DKE by eight additional women.
DKE began making improvements to its house over the weekend in light of the recommendations penned by the working group and plans to continue to implement those proposals this week. DKE plans to implement all the recommended changes by the weekend of March 3. Social events and rush at DKE will resume sometime the following week.
“DKE’s national judicial committee investigation was completed last week and we have now been given approval to resume social events and our rush process,” said a spokesman for DKE, who would comment only on the condition of anonymity. “We have elected, however, to postpone hosting any social events until we have successfully implemented all of the reforms laid out in our working group’s report.”
DKE’s chapter requested the investigation from its national organization in early January after a Business Insider reporter contacted fraternity president Nicholas Hardy ’18 on Jan. 7. The reporter’s story, published on Jan. 19, described victims’ accounts of sexual assault by Persichetti and another member who resigned following the article’s release. Persichetti was expelled from DKE after Yale disciplined him for sexual misconduct.
In interviews on Tuesday night, three women who have alleged sexual misconduct by DKE members said the decision to resume social activities in two weeks is premature. All the women spoke on the condition of anonymity, for privacy reasons.
“It shows an eagerness to rush back into socializing as a fraternity rather than sitting back and empathetically listening to what these women have to say,” said one of the women. “In light of the allegations and in light of the media, I would doubt the moral character of someone who willingly chooses to rush this fraternity this spring. They really just don’t get it.”
Another of the female students said she is unsurprised that DKE plans to resume social events, given that the fraternity has already begun implementing its working group’s recommendations. But she said she still hopes that Yale students will hesitate before attending a DKE party.
Another woman — the accuser whose complaint to Yale led to Persichetti’s suspension — said DKE is still not in a place to host parties, given that the working group acted in response to the two allegations reported by Business Insider — and not the additional allegations and broader cultural concerns enumerated in the News on Tuesday.
“If your own spokesperson is too ashamed to speak except under conditions of anonymity, you probably shouldn’t be hosting parties,” she said.
DKE has a total of 56 chapters in the United States and Canada.
Britton O’Daly | britton.odaly@yale.edu
Alice Park | alice.park@yale.edu