‘No means no’: KU protest over fraternity continues after alleged sexual assault

Protesters gathered Tuesday for a second straight night of demonstration outside of a University of Kansas fraternity house as one of its members is accused of sexually assaulting a student there over the weekend.

The fraternity has come under scrutiny from students and others in the Lawrence community who believe a student was drugged and raped during a house party there on Saturday. Outcry over the allegations has resulted in calls for the fraternity to be barred from KU, including an online petition that garnered more than 13,000 signatures by Tuesday evening.

The national fraternal organization has said the allegations against one of its KU undergraduate members came to light over the weekend and was reported immediately to university officials. In a statement, Drake DelosSantos, a spokesman for the organization, said the fraternity “takes these allegations very seriously and will fully cooperate with law enforcement.”

Roughly 250 people arrived on the lawn of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. It began on the front sidewalk but quickly moved through a green barrier to the lawn and steps of the giant house as several carried signs disparaging the fraternity.

About a dozen police officers stood watch over the protest from a neighboring hill as protesters chanted for hours on the home’s front porch. Private security guards were also present. Chants — including “no means no” and “kick him out” — were led by megaphone from near the house’s front door as fellow protesters took part or looked on from across the street.

Most of those attending Tuesday’s demonstration were KU students.

Tanisha Manjunath, 18, and Aakanksha Hiremath, 19, both live in student housing straight across the street from the frat. They came out for a second round of protest after hearing about the allegations on social media.

“Someone had to go through this, and we need to make sure that no one else has to go through this,” Hiremath said, adding that the university’s action to open an investigation shows a good first step.

“But we definitely do want to see more action taken,” she said.

Winnie Kinders, another student who came for a second night, said the large gatherings Monday and Tuesday show how much support there is to address sexual assault incidents among the student body.

“But I think the response from both the fraternity and KU itself was very lacking,” she said, adding that she wants the accused student to be held accountable.

Alexis Ontiveros, a pre-dental student, said the protests are about standing up for victims. And she said attention is being drawn more broadly to victims of sexual assault.

“A lot of the times things go unheard. So I think that this is really important,” she said. “... I think that justice needs to be served. And that girl definitely needs to be taken care of.”

“Hopefully she’s OK,” Ontiveros said. “She’s in all of our prayers.”

University officials said Tuesday that they are investigating the matter. KU Chancellor Douglas Girod, Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer and Vice Provost Tammara Durham announced the investigation in a letter to students Tuesday afternoon, saying the university takes the allegations seriously and the fraternity is cooperating.

“We want to express our appreciation for all of you who are helping to address sexual assault in the community. This topic is deeply important to us, as it clearly is to so many of you,” the administrators said in a statement.

Details about the involvement of Lawrence police with regard to the abuse allegation remained unclear Tuesday. Patrick Compton, a spokesman for the department, said in a statement that the department is aware of the allegations but does not comment generally on sexual assault incidents or investigations “to protect the privacy of victims.”

Compton also said Lawrence police, assisted by Douglas County Sheriff deputies and KU Public Safety, were present for the duration of the earlier protest on Monday. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made on the first night, Compton said.

On Tuesday evening, a few hours before the protest was set to begin, a house resident who answered the door told a Star reporter there would be no comment from fraternity members outside of the initial statement from the national organization. A power washer was out front that had apparently been used to try and remove expletives and the word “rapists” spray-painted in red graffiti on the palatial home’s brick stairway.

The Star’s Katie Bernard, Aaron Torres and Anna Spoerre contributed to this report.