Gossip about an orgy in Eaglin Hall got a lot of action as it spread online before school started Aug. 23, and now students are trying to put the rumors to bed.
The rumors revolving around the “Eaglin orgy,” as some students called it, spread mainly via social media platforms including YikYak and Snapchat. A six-part story posted Aug. 20 on YikYak by an anonymous source detailed their experience. The posts said 15 people were involved.
Junior marketing and supply chain management major Meredith Erling, who is a resident adviser (RA) on the first floor in Eaglin, said there was no evidence to back up the rumor.
“As an RA in Eaglin, it came to a surprise to all of us that something like that could happen,” Erling said. “So, at the end of the day, it was simply a rumor … to try and start something.”
Erling said if anything did happen, the information would have gotten to her boss. Rob Leibel, who is listed as the Community Coordinator of Eaglin Hall and The Gardens, did not respond to The Chanticleer for a comment. However, Erling said herself and other RAs at Coastal Carolina University are actively shutting down the rumors.
Other posts on YikYak, which is an online site where users post anonymously, said the students involved were expelled. The Chanticleer requested expulsion documents from the CCU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Office on Aug. 31 for what university policy (or policies) was violated, the date the conduct process was initiated, and date the expulsion went into effect.
However, the FOIA Office reported there were no records of students who were expelled from Aug. 13 to 31.
YikYak is designed to connect college-aged users. Users know posts containing bizarre content will gain traction yet allow for comments of speculation. However, many of Coastal’s YikYak users denied the sticky situation. One person posted, “It was fake stop acting like it was real.”
The Student Code of Conduct for the 2022-2023 academic year lists sexual or gender-based misconduct under prohibited conduct, “Including, but not limited to, dating/domestic violence, sexual exploitation, sexual violence/assault, sexual harassment, and/or stalking.” The Student Code of Conduct does not list orgies nor sex as prohibited conduct.
The Chanticleer reporters investigated the rumors and spoke to students on all three floors of Eaglin last week, and most of the residents, including freshman marine science major Sydney Reece, had heard the rumors.
“Our RA said it was fake,” Reece said.
Nahari Suchanek, freshman musical theatre major, said he thinks the rumor may have originated in his suite. He said one of his roommates tried to come up with an explanation as to why one of their suitemates suddenly left the University a few days after the orgy allegedly happened.
Although the suitemate said he left due to a family emergency, his departure became the butt-end of the orgy expulsion rumors.
“He was saying that to a bunch of girls,” Suchanek said. “I’m surprised that it got around.”
