Pictured Above: Almost 70 allegations have been made against USF alum and current students on Twitter account @SurvivorsUSF, many of which accused members of USF Greek life.
Aya Diab | The Crow’s Nest
By Catherine Hicks and Sophie Ojdanic
For three years, Chelsea Engel struggled to repress the memory of the night she says she was raped by a fraternity member at USF Tampa.
She dropped out of her sorority, where friends downplayed or ignored her ordeal, earned a degree and tried to get on with her life.
That ended on June 23, when Engel took to Twitter to tell her story and urge other women to come forward as well.
Dozens of women responded with similar accounts in a tweet storm that touched off a scandal that is now rocking the fraternity and sorority system in Tampa amid apologies, calls for reform and an investigation ordered by USF President Steve Currall.
“It took me three years to say something and I wish I had spoken up sooner,” said Engel, who graduated in 2019. “The person who assaulted me assaulted many other women, and maybe if I had said something sooner there would have been less women victimized.
“I can’t blame myself for that now, and speaking up about something so terrible can be terrifying, but your voice matters. Your story matters. Your life matters.”
Since Engel broke her silence 10 days ago:
** A Twitter account called “USF Survivors” was created as a platform for victims of sexual misconduct to anonymously share their experiences. As of July 3, it had more than 60 accusations, with five men identified as repeat offenders.
** A Google Drive document was created listing the names of accused offenders. It now has over 200 names, some with multiple accusations.
** A petition was started that calls for the suspension of the Sigma Nu fraternity – the target of many women’s accusations. By July 3, it had accumulated 5,730 signatures.
“This is my fraternity,” wrote one supporter of the petition who identified himself as Liam G., “but some scary shit happens there and I’m ready to see it go under.”
Kevin Nguyen, a member of the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity, was one of the men accused of sexual misconduct. He issued a public apology on Instagram on July 2.
“I sincerely apologize to all the women I have sexually harassed,” he said in the post. “I can blame no one else but myself for my actions. I admit to making poor decisions in the past, and know that I overstepped personal boundaries for a lot of women and friends.”
The vice president of USF’s new system-wide Student Government was also touched by the controversy.
Gustavo Spangher, who according to his LinkedIn profile is also vice president of recruitment for the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, was accused by two people of “predatory behavior” at fraternity parties.
The two tweets were taken down by the USF Survivors twitter account, but put back up later the same day.
“Earlier today, I received backlash for posting stories about Gustavo because they were not specific incidents of assault/harassment and were instead observations on predatory behavior,” the owner of the account wrote. “I took the posts down but I’m now putting them back up.
“I think it is important for those in positions of power to be held to a higher level of accountability, because they serve as role models and examples for everyone else to follow.”
In an email to The Crow’s Nest, Spangher said he was “extremely sad to be put into this situation, but I will be collaborating with any investigations that come my way and have full faith that it won’t affect my role in SG.”
Fraternities and sororities have been a fixture on many of America’s college campuses since the 1800s as places to build friendships, socialize and perform public service.
But fraternities in particular have come under fire in recent years amid publicity about dangerous hazing, excessive drinking and sexual misconduct.
According to a USF website, about 8 percent of the 47,000 students on the Tampa campus belong to a fraternity or sorority. Many members live in the FSL Greek Village, which houses 14 national fraternities and sororities.
The St. Petersburg campus does not have a Greek system.
In an interview with The Crow’s Nest, Engel accused the fraternities in Tampa of playing a major role in sexual violence there.
“I think the first thing [USF] needs to do is cancel fall recruitment for Greek life,” she said. “After all of these allegations and all of these stories, it’s clear that the Greek community has fostered this culture of sexual violence.
“If it’s unsafe for current members, there is absolutely no excuse to bring in new members until steps have been taken to fix this problem that’s clearly bigger than they were willing to admit.”
Engel also shared that partnerships between fraternities and sororities impacted her sisters’ willingness to help her.
“I told some girls in my sorority, some were empathetic – but despite them being empathetic at the time they still remained friends with him and hung out with him at social functions,” she said. “Some ignored me completely.
“Nobody wanted to have a sister accuse a brother because nobody wanted to ruin the relationship between the sorority and the frat.”
Delta Delta Delta, or Tri Delta, issued a statement via their Instagram page regarding the allegations.
“After reading the story of a former member of Tri Delta, we are both saddened and apologetic in the way she was treated,” the statement said. “We have been in contact with her and are holding each other accountable so that we are able to become better allies for one another.
“Sexual assault is an epidemic in the fraternity and sorority community and needs to be taken very seriously.”
The Theta Alpha chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity – the target of the complaints of Engel and many other women – issued a statement saying it was caught off guard by the allegations.
“This is something that took the entire chapter by surprise as we were never aware of these events nor any accusations toward said past member [who allegedly assaulted Engel and others],” said the statement, which was released on Twitter. “We recognize the seriousness of these allegations and have made it our mission to improve member awareness and safety.”
But some members of the USF community did not seem satisfied with Theta Alpha’s statement.
Twitter user @karjbal shared screenshots of a group message in which Theta Alpha members spoke of their sexual encounters with several women.
“It looks like members were aware of the behavior,” she said in her tweet.
USF’s Interfraternity Council is an umbrella organization that oversees the Tampa campus’ fraternities. On its website, it says it “prides itself on exhibiting and promoting the values of scholarship, leadership, brotherhood, service and integrity.”
In a statement, the Interfraternity Council praised the women who have come forward for their bravery.
“The Interfraternity Council … denounces all forms of sexual violence and any behavior that justifies or encourages these acts,” the statement, also released on Twitter, said. “Silence at this time disregards the experiences of survivors, and we stand against these acts of violence.
“Part of the silence from our council has been intentional in letting our member organizations not only deal with their shortcomings, but also sit with the discomfort, frustration and justified outrage from the community.”
The council said it would fully cooperate with university entities moving forward in investigations.
“We recognize the pain and emotions that are felt by those coming forward,” the statement said. “It takes an incredible amount of courage and bravery to relive and share their experience and we want them to know that we believe them.”
On July 1, Currall issued a statement saying he was “deeply troubled by these serious allegations,” which he said are “under review by the university offices that are best positioned and trained to respond.
“In light of the information recently shared on social media, I believe it’s important for us to reexamine our processes and outreach initiatives to ensure that we are responding effectively to allegations of sexual violence,” Currall said.
“Therefore, I have asked for a review of our internal processes to reinforce what we are doing well and identify where we can improve.”
Although St. Petersburg does not have social fraternities and sororities, there has been talk of trying to establish them as a way of building more “student engagement” on a campus where the vast majority of students are commuters.
The possibility of adding a Greek system was mentioned in the administration’s 2003-2008 strategic plan for the St. Petersburg campus. And in 2017, Student Government touted the potential positives of sororities and fraternities and conducted a survey that showed 63.6 of the 505 students who responded favored having a Greek system.
But a town hall called to discuss the issue had a dismal turnout and the discussion seemed to fizzle out.
The St. Petersburg campus has had at least three cases of alleged sexual misconduct in recent years.
In 2014, a male USF St. Petersburg student was criminally charged with sexual battery on a female student in her dorm room and kicked out of school. He eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
In May 2017, SG’s vice president-elect was expelled after the university determined that he sexually assaulted a female student in his dorm room. She had not filed criminal charges. The student, Samuel Goetz, challenged his expulsion in court, and it was eventually cleared from his record. He promised not to return to school.
More recently, the newly elected lieutenant governor of St. Petersburg’s SG, Isaiah Castle, confirmed that he was being investigated under Title IX. He said he did nothing wrong and will be cleared.
Students like Mary Sokolowski, of a USF St. Petersburg sexual assault survivors support group, called for the university to be more accountable under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sexual discrimination, including harassment and violence, in colleges and universities.
“Survivors need to be heard,” Sokolowski said. “And I’m so proud of those who have been speaking up.
“More needs to be done. People need to pay attention to Title IX. The reason the school can get away with their lack of response is because of Title IX not holding them accountable for these assaults since they are not happening directly on campus.”
Looking for help?
USF St. Petersburg students looking for help can use the following resources:
The Wellness Center at 727-873-4422
Suncoast 24/7 Rape Crisis Hotline at 727-530-7273
CASA Domestic Violence Advocacy and Counseling at 727-895-4912
Victim Assistance from St. Petersburg police at 727-892-5280 or 727-892-5128
University Police at 727-873-4444
Aya Diab, Trevor Martindale and Edyn Gottlieb contributed to this report.
As an alum I am proud to see The Crow’s Nest covering these important issues. Keep up the good work!