QUESTIONABLE: Is the Rolling Stone Story True?

The article alleges a truly horrifying gang rape at a UVA fraternity, and it has understandably shocked the campus and everyone who’s read it. The consequences have been pretty much instantaneous: The fraternity involved has voluntarily suspended its operations (without admitting that the incident happened); UVA’s president is promising an investigation and has since suspended all fraternity charters on campus; the alumni are in an uproar; the governor of Virginia has spoken out; students, particularly female students, are furious, and the concept of “rape culture” is further established. Federal intervention is sure to follow.

The only thing is…I’m not sure that I believe it. I’m not convinced that this gang rape actually happened. Something about this story doesn’t feel right.

Here’s why.

There are useful comments over at Steve Sailer’s post about this. One points to a Reddit thread wherein a commenter points out that the fraternity in question doesn’t do fall rush, which calls into question the timing of the story:

1) Phi Psi doesn’t do fall rush. There would be no pledges at the time the rape took place; every Phi Psi pledge would’ve been initiated the previous May. The idea that an entire fraternity spent a semester incrementally desensitizing its pledges in order to force them to gang rape a first year seems highly unlikely. The idea that a fraternity of 60 or so men being ok with (implicitly or explicitly) gang rape seems even more unlikely.

2) Even if Phi Psi did take a fall class, bid day in Fall 2012 was September 22. The story allegedly happened on September 28. The very first pledge event was a gang rape during a party a week after being offered a bid? The brotherhood barely knows you (and you barely know them) at that point, but they’re going to ask you to commit a felony and not say anything? Somehow, I don’t think so.