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Rolling Stone casts doubt on U.Va. rape story

 
University of Virginia students walk to campus past the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, where the alleged rape was said to have occurred.
University of Virginia students walk to campus past the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, where the alleged rape was said to have occurred.
Published Dec. 6, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — An account of sexual assault in Rolling Stone magazine that shook the University of Virginia and horrified many readers showed signs of crumbling Friday, as the magazine admitted to doubts about its article on a premeditated gang rape at a fraternity party, and the fraternity issued its first rebuttal of some details.

Rolling Stone's backpedaling came after several days of critiques that questioned aspects of its article about a woman who asked to be called Jackie, and concessions by campus activists against sexual assault that they had doubts about some parts of her account.

The magazine published a note to readers from managing editor Will Dana, stating, "In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced."

In a statement, the fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi said it did not have a fraternity function on the weekend when the woman said she was raped upstairs in the fraternity house while a party raged downstairs. And while the article said the initiator of the assault was a fraternity member who worked as a lifeguard at a university aquatic center, Phi Kappa Psi said its review indicated that no member of the fraternity worked there during the time in question.

The fraternity said that while it continued to cooperate with a police investigation, its initial doubts about the account have been strengthened as members and alumni have learned more. Its statement said: "We have no knowledge of these alleged acts being committed at our house or by our members."

Supporters of the woman and advocates for the safety of women said the questions about the article should not undermine the university's heightened attention to sexual assault issues that have festered for years. But the questions raised about the article have left unclear which elements of Jackie's account will hold up to a new review, and whether the article will become less about rape than about standards of journalism and the credibility of people who say they have been assaulted.

In the initial article, published online Nov. 19, Jackie described how, just a month into her college career in 2012, she went to a party in the Phi Kappa Psi house with a fraternity brother, who took her up to a dark room, where seven men waited to rape and beat her.

In an interview Friday, Dana said Rolling Stone had not sought to corroborate her account after she asked the magazine not to speak to her attackers. That was a misjudgment and a disservice to her, Dana said.

Rolling Stone has not identified specific errors in the article beyond those that had been made public, he said.

"I don't know what happened that night," Dana said. "I don't know who is telling the truth and who is not." There should never be, he added, "a story in Rolling Stone where I feel that way."

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When he first read the article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, he said, "I thought, 'Are you sure?' We talked about it a lot, and between the editors here, the fact-checkers and Sabrina, we thought that the account was credible." Rolling Stone's lawyers had no difficulties with the piece, as long as those accused were not identified, he said.

The article prompted pained soul-searching at the university, as leaders of fraternities joined fellow students, administrators and faculty members in voicing sorrow and outrage that colleges have a sexual assault problem. A number of women came forward to say that they had been raped at the university and that the administration had showed more interest in protecting its reputation than in punishing perpetrators; administrators admitted that in recent years, no one had been expelled.

In a statement Friday, university president Teresa Sullivan said: "Over the past two weeks, our community has been more focused than ever on one of the most difficult and critical issues facing higher education today: sexual violence on college campuses. Today's news must not alter this focus."

The university, founded by Thomas Jefferson, did not admit women in large numbers until the 1970s and still has a hard-drinking, fraternity-dominated social culture.

The Charlottesville Police Department's investigation, which began in response to the article, will continue, the department said.

Jackie did not respond to requests for comment.

Emily Renda, a recent graduate who works for the university on sexual assault response and counseled Jackie before and after the Rolling Stone article, conceded that elements of her account had changed over time, including the number of attackers, but she said she does not believe Jackie intentionally misled anyone. She said that they spoke again Friday and that Jackie was "traumatized all over again."

Erdely could not be reached for comment.

The Washington Post, which first reported on Friday that several aspects of her account were being disputed, said that it had interviewed Jackie and friends of hers, and that despite inconsistencies, she stood by her story. The Post reported that after giving her account to Rolling Stone, she had changed her mind about publishing the article and asked the magazine not to use it, but to no avail.

In response to that allegation, Dana said Jackie seemed pleased with the article after publication.