UVa president: Efforts to reform culture underway

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – In her most extensive interview since a controversial Rolling Stone article, the University of Virginia’s president says efforts are underway to reform the school’s party culture and improve safety but that those plans will take time.

Teresa Sullivan tells The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/1yzTpKN) implementing change “is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Sullivan says the university’s long-held concerns about sexual assault and alcohol use were heightened by the article, which described an alleged gang rape at a fraternity house. The magazine has since apologized for what it calls discrepancies in details of the account.

Sullivan says a committee of parents, students, faculty, alumni and university board members has met to discuss campus culture. She says the university plans to revise agreements with fraternities to emphasize safety, and to deploy uniformed “ambassadors” to escort students home or provide other help.