A plan to put up barricade tape bearing the words “Rape Free Zone” around fraternities has drawn criticism from members of the Greek community, who said the plan plays on stereotypes linking fraternities to sexual assault. The “Rape Free Zones” is to be a part of V-Week, a campaign to eliminate violence and sexual assault against women.

Organizers insisted that while the connection to fraternity stereotypes is intentional, its purpose is to increase dialogue and awareness about sexual assault on campus.

“We approached frats in the beginning because they have a reputation for being a place where sexual assault occurs,” explained sophomore Yana Kesala, one of the event’s organizers. “It’s a completely wrong stereotype, but a stereotype nonetheless.”

Sophomore Allison McKenzie, another event organizer, acknowledged, “This statement is going to stir up some controversy.”

She pointed to the other non-Greek houses and locations that would also be included in the campaign. “It wasn’t our intention to single the frats out.”

The original e-mail detailing the event, which was not intended for circulation outside the network of the V-Week organizers, listed only fraternities and White Plaza as locations where the tape would be put up. This list was later expanded to include non-Greek locations as well. The organizers plan to put the tape up tonight in front of all Greek and non-Greek locations that have given permission.

The reaction of many fraternity members was negative.

Sigma Nu President John Cuaron met last Saturday with the organizers of the campaign to express concern that the tape “could be seen as an attack” on fraternities.

“We let them know that we wouldn’t support this type of event, and we didn’t see it as a positive event,” Cuaron said, though he added that the organizers “definitely came in with good intentions.”

Sigma Nu members expressed their concerns about the event during a meeting of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) on Tuesday, leading to a discussion that led some frats to withdraw support for the campaign.

Senior Anders Meyerhoff, the IFC representative for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said that there was avid discussion about the perception that Rape Tape was primarily directed toward the Greek community.

Senior Nate Hennings, a member of Sigma Chi and the IFC President, emphasized that the organization “vehemently supports the cause of V-Week.”

However, Hennings questioned the need for the tape.

“The IFC’s opinion is that each fraternity is inherently a rape-free zone, and no tape needs to substantiate this,” he said.

According to sources at Tuesday’s meeting, Assistant Director of Student Activities Joey Greenwell also voiced opposition to placing the tape around fraternities.

Greenwell was unable to comment before press time.

Although the IFC itself took no action, attitudes towards the taping idea were “definitely negative,” according to Cuaron.

For the moment, the decision on whether to allow the tape around fraternities will be made on a fraternity-by-fraternity basis.

Some fraternity members felt that any display of the word “rape” in front of fraternities was unacceptable, but expressed a willingness to show support for the fight against sexual assault in other ways.

The organizers of the placement of “Rape Free Zone” tape defended the decision to approach fraternities with the idea.

“Frats are the only all-male residences, and 85 percent of sexual assault is committed by men,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie defended the general idea behind the campaign, which she claimed had been “grossly misunderstood.”

“First of all, the intention in putting up the tape is not to encourage a culture of fear,” McKenzie said. “Quite the contrary, it is to assert that our house — or any house participating — is and always has been a place that does not condone violence against women.”

The organizers believe that the tape will create a dialogue and bring sexual assault out into the open.

“There are one or two sexual assaults reported on Stanford campus each year,” Kesala said. “It’s an extremely low rate compared to other campuses. But that doesn’t mean that stuff doesn’t happen that no one talks about.”

Students attributed the lack of discussion about sexual assault at Stanford to the low rate of occurrence.

“I would say there is not enough dialogue because it’s not an issue we have to address,” said freshman Michelle Mellard, who also said that she felt secure going to fraternity parties on campus. “It’s safe, it’s dancing, it’s a good time, it’s nothing where you would have to worry about safety.”

Though V-Week is a national campaign and the placement of tape reading “Rape Free Zone” have been used at other colleges, this is the first year that the tape is being put up at Stanford. Last year, the idea fell through when the tape did not arrive in time to coordinate with V-Week.

Despite concerns within the Greek community, the organizers of the event said they were heartened by the dialogue that the tape has already created.

“Rape is a crime against humanity and a crime against women and it happens all the time and it’s unaddressed,” Kesala said.

McKenzie expressed optimism about the event.

“Putting up this tape isn’t going to solve everything, but it will sure as hell get people talking,” she said.