As University of Iowa fraternity lawsuit moves toward trial, both sides seek court intervention

IOWA CITY — With just over two months until the civil trial of two former University of Iowa fraternity brothers is supposed to begin, parties on both sides are asking a judge to preemptively rule in their favor.

A woman who in November 2021 sued the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, its UI chapter and two former members she accused of sexually assaulting her, recording the attack and then sharing images of it wants the judge to dismiss counterclaims of defamation against her.

On the other hand, the UI chapter, which goes by FIJI, has asked the court to remove its name from the lawsuit entirely — arguing “no conduct attributable to the Chapter created the risk giving rise to the alleged harm.”

The trial, set for November, was ordered moved from Johnson County to Tama County on a change of venue ruling due to its high-profile nature.

The allegations stem from a get-together the early morning of Sept. 5, 2020, in the UI FIJI house at 303 Ellis Ave. in Iowa City. According to “undisputed” facts outlined in the lawsuit — filed in October 2021 by Makena Solberg, who identified herself publicly as the victim — a chapter member invited her and her best friend over after 1 a.m.

Solberg had part of a Bud Light Seltzer while there and left with her friend at 3:40 a.m. A week later, on Sept. 10, 2020, she said her sorority informed her she had been sexually assaulted that night, and the two fraternity brothers involved — Jacob Meloan and Carson Steffen — had taken photos and circulated them, according to court documents.

Although Solberg said she went to police shortly after, officers did not immediately file charges — compelling her to go public the following fall in 2021, inciting violent protests and outcry across the UI campus.

Several weeks after the protests, officers arrested Steffen on allegations of first-degree harassment for sending a photo to multiple people on Snapchat.

With that criminal case and the civil lawsuit still wending through the legal system — set for a civil trial Nov. 5 and Steffen’s criminal trial Dec. 3 — more details are emerging about the incident and the fraternity’s response at the time.

“The chapter members who received the photo on the group chat felt it was inappropriate, and within days, met in between classes and agreed to direct anyone who may have received the photo to delete it,” according to the chapter’s request for summary judgment in its favor, removing it from the lawsuit and from liability.

“Based on the explicit photos, the chapter president … called a membership review meeting to have the chapter members collectively decide whether to remove Steffen and Meloan as members,” according to the court document.

In a deposition made public through court records, chapter adviser Phillip Prybil said he was present for that Sept. 13, 2020. review, where members voted to remove Steffen and Meloan “based on the sexually explicit photo sent to the group chat.”

Solberg’s attorney, Eashaan Vajpeyi, in questioning Prybil asked about “messages between Carson Steffen and another pledge member … wherein Carson Steffen sort of stated his confusion as to why him and Mr. Meloan were in such trouble over sharing a picture when other members of (the chapter) had done the same things in the past.”

Specifically, according to Vajpeyi, Steffen wondered why he and Meloan were in such trouble when “something similar had been done by two (other) members.”

Prybil, in recounting the vote to expel, said one of the men received a single vote to keep him in the chapter, “which my assumption was probably himself.”

“And the other man received, I think, three votes out of 80 or 100,” he said.

Although Prybil said he didn’t initially notify anyone with the fraternity’s headquarters or university about the photos, he did confirm a meeting at the Iowa Memorial Union a year later — after protests and riots vandalized the FIJI house — involving chapter and headquarter officials.

“What were the topics covered at the IMU meeting?” Vajpeyi asked.

“We covered mainly support for the membership on campus … finding emergency housing and landlords for the displaced homeless members after the riots,” Prybil said.

When asked whether the allegations of assault and photo sharing were discussed at that meeting, Prybil said, “No. You understand this meeting was a year — in excess of a year after the sharing of the photos.”

In spelling out “undisputed material facts” of the case, the chapter reported that one of the two men involved had never before been accused of sexual assault or misconduct but the other “had been accused of sexual misconduct, and the allegations were investigated and resolved through the University of Iowa.

“Through that process, there was no finding that (he) had engaged in the alleged sexual misconduct, and no discipline was imposed on him for any alleged sexual misconduct,” according to court documents, reporting the fraternity brother did not report the allegations to the chapter “aside from confiding in one friend.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com