The review by the Columbia University journalism school was set to be published Sunday night. Police said last month they found no evidence of a 2012 rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house as originally reported by Rolling Stone.
Steve Helber / AP
After months of review, the Columbia University journalism school was on Sunday night set to release its investigation into a Rolling Stone article about a rape at the University of Virginia, which contained major discrepancies and could not be verified by police.
The fallout from the article raised questions over journalism ethics, as well as whether or not campus culture at schools like UVA contributes to sexual assaults. As the issue of sexual assault on campus has gained national attention, the U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into how 85 colleges handle sexual violence.
In the December 2014 article, a woman identified as Jackie described being brutally raped by seven men at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. The article followed the reaction of her friends and classmates as well as reported failures by the university administration.
Its publication prompted protests on campus, but soon fraternity members and people who knew Jackie began to come forward disputing her account. The fraternity did not hold a party on the night in 2012 she said she was raped, and none of its members matched the description of her attacker. Her friends later told reporters their memories also didn't match up with the Rolling Stone story. The magazine never contacted them before publication, they told the Washington Post .
Rolling Stone then issued an apology, saying they had "misplaced" their trust in the young woman. The magazine later took responsibility for mistakes that were made.
In March, police suspended their investigation after finding no evidence to support the account in the article.
"I want to be clear, that doesn't mean something terrible did not happen to Jackie," Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said at the time. "We were just not able to gather sufficient facts on what that event might have been."
The fraternity has said it is considering legal recourse for the damage the article did to its reputation.
"These false accusations have been extremely damaging to our entire organization, but we can only begin to imagine the setback this must have dealt to survivors of sexual assault," Stephen Scipione, president of the Virginia Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi, said in a statement. "We hope that Rolling Stone's actions do not discourage any survivors from coming forward to seek the justice they deserve."
LINK: Police Suspend Investigation Into UVA Rape Allegations Published In Rolling Stone
LINK: Rolling Stone Quietly Changes Its Rape Story Apology
SOURCE: BuzzFeed
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