All St Andrews students are to be given compulsory lessons on sexual consent after the Fife university was rocked by allegations of rape and sexual assault.
According to the Daily Telegraph, at least nine rape claims were made against students in Alpha Epsilon Pi, a global fraternity with ‘chapters’ across the globe. The St Andrews chapter consists of about 50 men.
Allegations were also made on Instagram account St Andrews Survivors, which last week began sharing anonymous accounts of sexual misconduct at the university.
Not all claims shared by the page relate to incidents at the university, with some predating students’ time at St Andrews.
Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) has vowed to suspend the members accused and include “mandatory consent education and anti-rape culture education” in new member and chapter programmes.
“We find the content of these allegations abhorrent and we take them extremely seriously,” the fraternity said in a statement.
“The fraternity unconditionally opposes, and its conditions of membership absolutely prohibit, any conduct considered sexual harassment or sexual assault.”
The university is to introduce a “compulsory orientation module” for the upcoming academic year which will require students to learn more about consent and sexual assault before arriving. All students will be required to complete the course online.
A spokeswoman for the university said: “We welcome the ‘St Andrews Survivors’ account’s efforts to provide people of all genders a space to voice their experiences of sexual misconduct.
“The Proctor met with the account creator this week to establish how we can work together to signpost support and reporting mechanisms to students who require them.
“It is categorically untrue to suggest the university tried to suppress survivor testimonies, as the account creator has made clear.
“The university’s primary concern is to ensure survivors know that we are ready and willing to support their decisions and take action, facilitate police reporting, and provide ongoing support accordingly.
“We appreciate these are difficult issues to speak about, but our student services team has a 90% satisfaction rating amongst students, and survivors who wish to see perpetrators investigated must be willing to make reports through the appropriate channels.
“We have clear and established procedures for investigating allegations of this nature.
“However, the details of any investigations must remain confidential to offer appropriate support and fair outcomes to all concerned. It would not be appropriate for us to comment on whether any specific individual or group is under investigation.
“The university will always act when incidents are formally reported, and is committed to working collaboratively with students to promote a culture of responsibility and respect, in which everyone can trust in our procedures and that our community is intolerant of all forms of sexual misconduct.”
Yvonne Stenhouse, Police Scotland’s community inspector for North East Fife, said: “We are aware of these online reports and are working with the university.”
