Fraternity resumes operations, preliminary hearing to be held July 7
On March 27, a Utah State University fraternity voluntarily suspended itself and ceased operations in light of the arrest of a former chapter president on suspicion of sex abuse. Three weeks later, the chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha resumed activities.
Current chapter president Alex Souvall talks about the steps the fraternity took during that three-week period.
“We had some events planned, and we basically just cancelled everything,” Souvall said. “Just as a brotherhood, we just handled the situation the best we could, you know. We tried to get the most information we could, and held an expulsion hearing and also did the necessary steps leading up to that.”
Souvall said the group has expelled 26-year-old Ryan Wray, who is now facing a felony sexual abuse charge after a woman accused him of inappropriately touching her at a party.
Souvall said that, contrary to rumors, Wray was not formally assigned to supervise individuals who had passed out. Rather, because Wray was known for not drinking alcohol, he naturally took on that role.
Souvall adds that the fraternity gave educational presentations on sexual abuse to all members before ending the approximately three-week suspension.
“We also had the presentation on sexual assault awareness and preventing risk and what sexual assault really means in the eyes of the law, and what you could be doing that’s wrong, that you don’t even know you’re doing is wrong,” Souvall said.
According to USU Police Department annual reports, the number of reported sexual assaults and rapes on campus have declined since 2003. However, a recent survey conducted by the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice suggests that many of these crimes go unreported. The survey indicated that only 9.8 percent of rapes are reported to law enforcement officials.
“There’s just a lot of reasons why people don’t report (crimes of sexual nature),” said Program Coordinator Jenny Erazo from the Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information office. “It’s a really personal crime, and most of the time it’s just the two people involved in the crime, and sometimes people don’t even know how to describe what happened.”
Even with many sexual assaults going unreported, data from the Utah Department of Health shows that rape rates are higher in Utah than the national average.
Souvall says the fraternity will hold members accountable if there are incidents of sexual violence in the future.
The preliminary hearing for Wray’s case will be held on July 7.
— @bckelly8