Just when you thought the ickiness factor associated with the word “frat” couldn’t get any stronger, this happens. Trent Lott, former Republican senator from Mississippi, has been hired by national fraternity and sorority groups to actively lobby for controversial legislation aimed at preventing universities from punishing certain students accused of sexual assault.
Congressional disclosure filings show that Lott is among a group of lobbyists who have already collected $140,000 this year alone, according to the Huffington Post. This sum comes directly from the so-called “Safe Campus Coalition,” which kind of sounds like a really boring cult and includes the National Panhellenic Conference, North American Interfraternity Conference, Kappa Alpha Order, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, and the Sigma Nu fraternity. As you might have guessed, Lott is a Sigma Nu alum.
The group is pushing for the widespread enactment of the Safe Campus Act, a widely panned move which restricts colleges from punishing students for sexual assault unless the police are involved. Many advocacy groups staunchly oppose these proposal, arguing that many victims only report such incidents to school officials because they know they won’t have to speak with police. This reluctance would ultimately inspire fewer reports, they argue, which would be a profoundly counterproductive measure for those actually hoping to improve the dire situation surrounding campus rape culture.
