Rolling Stone magazine on Friday apologized for its longform account of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity party after it said it had found “discrepancies” in the alleged victim’s story. And Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity in question, released a statement Friday afternoon disputing some of the account’s key details.
The revelations are the latest developments in a barely two-week-old saga that has rocked the Charlottesville campus and higher education. Here’s how it unfolded:
November 19. Rolling Stone publishes the article, “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVa.” That evening, the university’s president, Teresa A. Sullivan, responds with a statement that does not directly address the article but touts measures to prevent sexual assault that the college has taken.
November 20. The university names an independent counsel to investigate the alleged incident. The next day, after observers point out he is an alumnus of Phi Kappa Psi, the choice is scrapped.
November 22. Ms. Sullivan releases a second statement, which appears to accept the allegations as fact and announces that the university’s fraternities have suspended activities until early January.
November 25. As protests flare on the campus, the university’s Board of Visitors holds a special meeting to discuss campus rape, and passes a resolution supporting a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual assault.
December 1. In a speech to students, Ms. Sullivan announces a series of steps the university will take to combat campus rape, including negotiating new contracts with fraternities and instituting bystander-intervention training for students and faculty and staff members. That same day, The Washington Post opens media criticism of the Rolling Stone article, reporting that its author did not speak to the alleged rapists.
December 2. Media criticism of Rolling Stone’s reporting grows, anchored by Slate’s comprehensive deconstruction of the article and a piece in The New York Times.
December 5. The Post reports that Phi Kappa Psi disputes central assertions in the Rolling Stone account. Among other things, the chapter says it did not hold a party on the weekend of the date cited in the article. Rolling Stone publishes a short apology.
