The Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of California, San Diego apologized Thursday after a female student called out the fraternity for a member's request that she help out their "rush boobs" campaign.
Rachel Friedman, a UCSD student, posted a screenshot of an SAE member requesting that she take a photo of herself with "rush boobs" for their chapter.
"Rush boobs" is an internet phenomenon frequently promoted by blogs like Total Frat Move. Women write "Rush" with the Greek letters or name of a fraternity across their bodies, covering nipples or any other private parts so that the posts aren't deleted for nudity. They are not unique to SAE, or UCSD, and happen on campuses nationwide.
Friedman did not take kindly to the request.
Friedman replied, "I’m pretty offended that you even asked me that and I find the whole idea to be degrading," and then posted a screenshot of the brief conversation on Facebook on Thursday.
The student who sent her the request asked that she remove the post because he "didn't mean to be offensive," Friedman wrote on Facebook. She said she would not take it down, but Facebook ended up deleting it.
Later on Thursday, the UCSD chapter of SAE issued an apology on their Facebook page, noting that "those responsible within our chapter are being dealt with accordingly."
Some commented on their apology that it sounded like they were trying to plead ignorance. The group responded that they were not trying to dodge blame, but wanted to note the "rush boobs" request was "not mandated by our chapter's executive board and governance."
Several email addresses listed for the SAE chapter appeared to be shut down when HuffPost contacted them. Friedman did not respond to request for further comment, but on Friday morning, she posted a follow up note on Facebook, that said in part:
I hope that we are all able to move past this specific individual and the fraternity, and deal with the deeper issues at hand. It is not about me, him, or that organization; it is about changing a societal norm that is discriminatory. I also want to thank the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity for their apology, and I genuinely feel that they handled the situation gracefully and respectfully. Thank you to everyone that reached out in support, and again, lets all keep this positive, NOT blame specific parties, and instead work towards ending misogyny!
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