Student Union members passed out the tip sheets on Sunday.
Ohio University Student Union is making it known to freshmen that they believe the “Blue House,” located on Court Street and associated with Acacia fraternity, is one to avoid.
In a pamphlet distributed to OU students on Sunday, the OU Student Union accused the fraternity of being “notorious for drugging their free drinks and raping girls."
Ryan Powers, a member of the OU Student Union and a junior studying philosophy, said the tip sheet was part of the union's 10-page "disorientation guide."
"We, the Student Union, believe in warning people because Acacia are notorious for this certain behavior," Powers said. "We stand by our statements, however, we did not intend to implicate individual members of Acacia fraternity."
This is the second time within the past year these types of allegations have been made against the fraternity. In Novemberthe student group F--ckRapeCulture posted a petition on Change.org calling for Acacia to be banned from campus because of similar claims.
In November 2014, the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility and the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance investigated claims against the fraternity, Martha Compton, director of Community Standards and Student Responsibilities, said in an email.
“The investigation did not lead to the organization being charged with or found in violation of any University policy,” Compton said in an email.
“I think that the allegations made towards Acacia are unfair and based upon rumors,” Kaylee Maples, an undecided sophomore who is a part of Greek Life at OU, said in an email. “I have been aware of the allegations since last year, but every sorority and fraternity has allegations made against them.”
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Powers said Acacia is aware of its reputation.
"We said they are 'notorious.' We did not say they were all rapists, but based off a lot of women testimonials, the conclusion we came to is this is a house to avoid," Powers said.
Maples saw the pamphlet online and was “appalled”.
“When I heard about these rumors being put into a pamphlet given to the new freshman, I was honestly very disappointed that the Student Union found it okay to target a group of students as rapist,” Maples said.
She said she has met many men in the Acacia fraternity.
“I have found many of these men to be very nice and many of them have walked me home and or sent me a text to make sure I’m safe on the weekends,” Maples said.
In an open letter written by a member of OU Greek community under the username Danielle E., the author wrote the pamphlet could have incorporated tips such as ways to recognize when a drink has been drugged.
"They could of (sic) told the bobkittens to stay safe, be smart and look out for each other. The last thing that they had to do was slander an organization on the basis of a rumor," the post read.
Jonathan Peters, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas and expert in media law, said the fraternity could sue for defamation if it injures their organizational reputation,
“Allegations of drugging drinks and raping women would harm OU Acacia as an organization ‘in public estimation,’” Peters said in an email. “Which means, if the chapter has independent legal existence (as a corporation or unincorporated association), and if it can show loss of income from potential members or from donors — or some other loss — then it could sue.And the national fraternity could sue for similar losses, on the theory that its reputation has been injured both at OU and elsewhere.”
“My thought on the allegations are that the OUSU made both a legal and moral mistake,” Casey Barnes, a sophomore studying political science, said in an email. “They just gave an impressionable group an opinion based in rumor as though it was fact, used inaccurate information, and generalized a whole group based on the actions of a few individuals.”
The university and the office of Greek Life gave no comment.
The Post reached out to multiple members of the OU Acacia chapter as well as the national chapter and did not receive a response from either as of press time.
— Post reporters Maria DeVito and Taylor Maple contributed to this report.
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