On Tuesday, Phi Kappa Psi disclosed that it will receive $1.65 million from Rolling Stone to drop its lawsuit. The fraternity members were falsely accused of raping a female student, “Jackie”, in Sabrina Erdely’s November 2014 article, “A Rape on Campus”.
The chapter will be donating a significant portion of the settlement to organizations that provide sexual assault awareness education, prevention training and victim counseling services on college campuses.
The trial was originally set for October with the fraternity seeking $25 million. The terms of the settlement will be finalized in Charlottesville within the coming days.
Regarding the settlement, Phi Psi wrote, “It has been nearly three years since we and the entire University of Virginia community were shocked by the now infamous article, and we are pleased to be able to close the book on that trying ordeal and its aftermath.”
Rolling Stone declined to comment.
This follows the defamation lawsuit Rolling Stone settled earlier this year by university administrator Nicole Eramo. She received an undisclosed amount from the magazine as well as a $3 million settlement awarded to her from the jury.
