Guest column: Fraternities can be part of the solution

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Fraternities in general have a bad rap when it comes to rape and sexual assault and I won’t deny that in previous times this has been an issue even on our campus here at Utah State. The fraternities have done many things to help combat this. I have been impressed with the culture changes inside the chapters. Many fraternity men have stepped up and approached the topic of sexual assault with an attitude of “I am not the problem, but I can be the solution.”

I have worked with the fraternities in many ways as a chapter president of Alpha Sigma Phi and as a volunteer for SAAVI (Sexual Assault Anti-Violence Information Office). As a volunteer, I was able to go to each chapter and speak on consent and bystander intervention. I was really impressed by the open and honest conversations we had in these meetings. The fraternities were not only listening but really applying and wanting to change and better the community around them. Since then we have had more men volunteer from fraternities to help in the SAAVI office. The most impressive thing that has come about in the community is the open and honest conversations that are happening daily. No longer is sexual assault taboo, but is being discussed and many members are seeking out ways to become advocates, learn to intervene, and other ways to serve and help survivors. Fraternities in the past may have been a piece in the problem of sexual assault on college campuses, but now they are a key piece in preventing and ending sexual assault on college campuses.

I am proud to be a fraternity man and I am an advocate for all survivors of interpersonal violence and sexual assault.

— Ryker Moore