In November 2014, the university suspended fraternity and sorority functions pending investigation of
an article by
Rolling Stone concerning an alleged rape story, which was later determined to be a
hoax after the story was confirmed to be false through investigation by
The Washington Post. The university nonetheless instituted new rules banning "pre-mixed drinks, punches or any other common source of alcohol" such as beer kegs and requiring "sober and lucid" fraternity members to monitor all parties. In April 2015,
Rolling Stone fully retracted the article after the
Columbia School of Journalism released a scathing and discrediting report on the "anatomy of a journalistic failure" by its author. Even before release of the Columbia University report, the
Rolling Stone story was named the "Error of the Year" by the
Poynter Institute. The UVA chapter of
Phi Kappa Psi settled a defamation suit against
Rolling Stone and received $1.65million.