The link between fraternities and drinking alcohol to sexual assaults is trying to be corrected at NIU.

Beverly Beetham, NIU Sexual Assault Task Force chairman, said last semester, 14 rapes were reported to the Sexual Assault Response Team and two students who reported assaults in 1987 sought counseling.

Thirteen of the victims knew their assailant, Beetham said. Ten of the rapes occurred on campus, three off-campus and two occurred in the Greek Row area, she said.

“The primary problem with rape is alcohol,” she said.

In the 16 reported cases of sexual assault, the victim was drinking in seven of the cases and the assailant had been drinking in five, Beetham said.

NIU Interfraternity Council President Rob Martin said the IFC tries to regulate alcohol at fraternities in several ways.

These include the creation of a party patrol, educational programming, alternative non-alcoholic events and a stricter system for alcohol events.

“Close to half” of NIU fraternities have “no keg” party policies, Martin said. “These are national chapter policies, not the university’s.”

At greek events, grain alcohol cannot be served as a main beverage and there must be alternative food and beverages, he said, adding there are no more open fraternity parties.

“We’re trying to increase awareness that this type of behavior is not acceptable. It’s a hard attitude to change,” Beetham said.

Chris Hofmann, IFC vice president of education, said the IFC and Panhellenic Council have a New Greek Institute every semester to educate pledges about greek issues.

“We’re faced with a lot of problems. We do what we can do to attack these problems so our system doesn’t cave in,” Hofmann said.

“We tell pledges concerns and hope they will keep the idea in mind and be more conscious in decision making,” he said.

This semester, the institute featured a speaker on Feb. 17 dealing with relationships and date rape, Hofmann said.

“Students have to be clear on their sexual wishes. There is a lot of confusion as to what is consent,” she said. Women must not give “mixed messages.”

“If women say no, men have to learn to accept that,” Beetham said.

Greek Adviser Mary Ronan said Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was sanctioned last year for “an atmosphere which supported a sexual assault.”

Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity is on probation this semester for an alledged sexual assault on Dec. 2, 1988. The fraternity was placed on suspension spring semester 1989 for the alledged assault and was moved to probation last semester.

Sigma Pi fraternity was moved to deferred suspension this semester after being suspended last semester for serving alcohol to minors and failing to provide non-alcoholic beverages during a social event on April 29, 1989.

The SART force began in 1986 because Jon Dalton, former vice president of student affairs, felt the university needed to have a campus response to sexual assaults, she said.

“It’s working well. We’re really targeting more education. We want to prevent them (sexual assaults) from happening,” Beetham said.