Claiming sexual assault, four women sue former frat, Stockton University

Four current and former Stockton University students have sued Stockton and the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity — which is no longer associated with the school — claiming rape, sexual assault, and discrimination incidents in their separate civil lawsuits.

The school in Atlantic County, New Jersey, has faced four sexual assault-related lawsuits in one month.

Two women allege the same man, a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and now an alumnus of the school, raped them after parties at the fraternity. The third lawsuit alleges another fraternity member used a date rape drug against the plaintiff in that case. And the fourth plaintiff, in a suit filed Friday, alleges an unnamed fraternity member drugged and raped her several times. She then dropped out of the school after her first semester.

It’s rough, but true. This off campus frat was a problem when I was a student and now it’s finally coming to light and Stockton University is deflecting like, “what rapes? look at thse beautiful hardwood floor in our beachside dorms instead!” https://t.co/wuvtPwliUg

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— Kelsey McKnight (@KelseyMMcK) July 23, 2018

All four suits allege Stockton University failed to protect the women.

“We are deeply concerned about the victims and are committed to being as transparent as possible to keep the Stockton community informed of these serious matters,” wrote Harvey Kesselman, the university’s president, in an online statement responding to the lawsuits Friday.

University officials will review the school’s sexual assault and violence prevention policies, Kesselman wrote. Those policies currently require incoming students to attend orientation events that address sexual assault. Kesselman did not comment on any of the lawsuits individually in his statement.

The university’s student government also posted a warning on Facebook to incoming students that fraternities unofficially affiliated with the school can pose a danger.

The allegations of rape and sexual assault at Stockton come in the wake of a number of similar allegations against fraternities at institutions across the country. Temple University recently suspended the fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi following accusations of sexual assault. Its former fraternity president will be tried on seven counts of sexual assault in the coming months, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian.