Rolling Stone has settled a lawsuit the fraternity falsely blamed for the U.Va. rape hoax. The magazine will pay $1.65 million to Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. This is retribution for falsely claiming that members of its U.Va. chapter had raped a fellow student named “Jackie.”
In a 2014 story titled “A Rape on Campus,” “Jackie” accused the members of Phi Kappa Psi of sexually assaulting her. She claimed that 7 pledges raped her while 2 fraternity brothers egged her on. Jackie also said that she reported the rape to a U.Va. dean, and the dean could not be bothered to care about it. The story of rape, hazing, and bureaucratic failure sent shockwaves through the campus, and through the country.
Sabrina Erdely, the author of the piece, neglected to verify any of the key details of the story. She did not interview a single one of the men accused of the assault. She did not try to interview several of the main witnesses Jackie mentioned in the story. Charlottesville Police picked up the considerable slack, interviewing dozens of people during their investigation. Those interviews turned up nothing to corroborate Jackie’s story.
Jackie made it all up. Erdely didn’t verify it. And Rolling Stone published a piece that destroyed a dean’s career, a fraternity’s reputation, and several students’ college years. Phi Kappa Psi did not host a party on the night Jackie claimed to have been raped at a party at their house. The man she said took her on a date to lure her into the assault is not a U.Va. student, was not in Charlottesville the night of the alleged attack, and only knew Jackie as a vague acquaintance.
The Phi Kappa Psi brothers dealt with very real fallout from a very fake story. Vandals went for their fraternity house, throwing glass bottles at it and spray-painting things like “UVA Center for Rape Studies” on the house’s exterior. This is to say nothing of the impact on graduation Seniors who were searching for jobs while everyone in America thought their fraternity organized and executed a gang rape.
Though $1.65 million sounds like a lot of money, it’s only a small fraction of the $25 million in damages that the fraternity was seeking from Rolling Stone. Still, the magazine is paying out even more to other victims. Former U.Va. dean Nicole Eramo won a defamation suit against Rolling Stone for $3 million (only $1 million of which will be paid by the magazine; Erdely is responsible for the other $2 million).
Rolling Stone learned nothing from the Duke Lacrosse case. Now, they’re paying a steep price. Yet no amount of money can undo the emotional damage and reputational harm done to the school and to the fraternity.
