As a survivor and Columbia University alum, I am calling on my alma mater to DISBAND Phi Gamma Delta entirely and prevent them from ever coming back to Columbia’s campus as an organization.

FIJI has a history of committing sexual violence, harassment, stalking, drugging women, to name a few. They have terrorized Columbia students for long enough, it’s time the institution that gives them all their power come to an end.

I was sexually assaulted by a FIJI brother in November 2016. Since then, I have heard countless other stories of the brutal abuse and psychological torture inflicted on Columbia students at the hands of this fraternity. In my own experience, I was assaulted with other members present who did nothing but enable the situation and assist my rapist in gaslighting me. I can not put the harm this has all caused me into words. 

Since another survivor has publicly come out with their account of rape(linked below), numerous other women have also reached out to them about various claims of rape, sexual assault, and abuse by FIJI members. This includes accounts that have left physical injuries on women who were too drunk to defend themselves, and instances of stalking and complicity. So far, they have received over 17 distinct allegations of such against 6 different members of Columbia FIJI, two of whom have open Title IX cases against them. Meanwhile, Columbia and FIJI have done nothing to hold them properly accountable.

**AS OF 7/27/20 18 INDIVIDUAl REPORTS AGAINST COLUMBIA FIJI BROTHERS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE CONFIDENTIAL SURVIVOR PLATFORM @cusurvivors FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, INCLUDING SEVERAL REPEAT OFFENDERS****

FIJI actively protects abusers and provides them with institutional power to wield over their victims. During the 2017-2018 school year, Clay Watson, FIJI ‘21, was signed in to a Barnard residence hall. In the early morning hours, he entered the room of a Barnard student, who was a complete stranger to him, fully naked. He refused to leave, sexually harassed the student, and damaged some of the student’s property by urinating on it. Clay Watson was arrested and charged with one count of criminal mischief with an intent to damage property. Despite this criminal charge, he was never banned from participating in sports or FIJI. A petition similar to ours was started to remove Watson from the heavyweight rowing team, started by his female teammates, after his reinstatement. Sign here: https://www.change.org/p/columbia-athletics-remove-clay-watson-from-the-columbia-heavyweight-rowing-team  As shown by the comment left by Watson on the petition mentioned here, Clay Watson has shown no remorse for his actions on March 4th that forever traumatized another student. Because he never faced consequences for his actions, FIJI is complicit in fostering this kind of attitude. FIJI showed abhorrent negligence by allowing a convicted predator to remain within their group, and it speaks to their history of enabling serial abusers. As of now, Clay Watson is still affiliated with the fraternity and we are calling for his expulsion.

Testimonials from survivors:

https://stopsilencing.me/​

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/section-lead/2019/09/20/non-sibi-not-for-self/

UPDATE 7/10

In response to recent events, @cusurvivors on Instagram was created by survivors to share confidential survivor stories. Here is a statement from the admins:

CU Survivors existing in name and Instagram account (@CUsurvivors) was a long time coming. Columbia’s problems are not merely administrative, but structural, social, and personal. Survivors have known this for a long time. We will not offer simple institutional solutions to the incalculable sexual, physical, and emotional violence that occurs on Columbia’s campus year after year. We demand that the university and groups and individuals affiliated with it face accountability for many practices of violence, including protecting abusers and perpetuating environments hostile to survivors. We are aware that sexual assault education training exists, and yet all of these stories have happened WITH mandatory sexual assault training for all Columbia students and supposed Greek policy reform. A future for our communities looks like starting an open and honest conversation about how we can protect each other, how we can be vigilant for predatory behavior, and how we can dismantle structures of violence. Fiji is one of many, and it must be disbanded to prevent great harm that is otherwise inevitable.