On last year's Bid Night, 15 of 16 members of the Inter-Sorority Council reported the sexual assault of at least one of their members, according to Michael Goldsmith, president of the IFC and ISC's Joint Committee on Sexual Assault.
Last spring, members of the Inter-Fraternity Council and the Inter-Sorority Council created the Joint Committee on Sexual Assault partially in response to that finding, Goldsmith said.
The Committee's agenda is "still in the formation stages," Goldsmith said.
This year, Goldsmith sent an e-mail to committee members, all of whom are sorority and fraternity presidents, to encourage discussion and prevention of sexual assault by fraternity members on Bid Night.
Future plans of the Committee include the formation of a fraternity-sorority presidential mediation council to facilitate dialogue between fraternity and sorority presidents and members.
"The atmosphere within the Greek system is going to change," Goldsmith said.
Lee Sparks, president of Delta Delta Delta sorority, said her sorority took actions to prevent Bid Night assaults, such as the institution of a tougher Sober Sisters Program.
The program was adjusted "just so we knew that there were a definite number of women who were sober and out walking around making sure that women were as safe as they could be," she said.
Brian Kohn, president of Theta Delta Chi fraternity, described similar actions taken by his fraternity on bid night to prevent assaults.
"We have brothers in the party staying sober and kind of watching out for guys taking advantage of girls or girls getting really drunk," he said. When women leave parties, he said, "If it seems like a sketchy situation we try to mediate it."
However, such measures can only go so far, said Kyle Boynton, president of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.
"There's obviously a limitation to what presidents can do once things go behind closed doors," Boynton said, adding that the high rate of assaults last year did not surprise him at all.
"I'm confident that all 16 sororities experienced multiple sexual assaults," Boynton said. "It would be naive to say otherwise."
Boynton said the Committee encourages everyone to get verbal consent before sex, in addition to "making sure that that person is coherent enough to mean what they're saying."
He added that alcohol is only part of the problem in establishing consent. But the act of asking for consent remains unpopular, Boynton said.
"A lot of people think it's awkward when it really doesn't have to be," Boynton said. "We're not talking about a full conversation, we're talking about asking, 'Is this ok? Does this feel good?'"
Boynton said resistance to the act of establishing consent comes from both sexes.
"I've had conversations with women who said if someone asked something like, 'Can I kiss you?' they'd be really turned off," he said.
Sparks said many women remain confused about the definition of consent.
"The effort just has to be made on getting the conversation initiated," she said.
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