To my surprise, I found one of our campus security officers standing in front of me.

I was roused from the early stages of sleep by an unbearable noise coming from my door. I had been drinking for several hours and, in retrospect, I am astonished that anything could have roused me from my comatose state. My girlfriend, Julie, barely moved as I got out of bed and went to answer the door. BANG! BANG!


"Mr. Baylor: are you in there?!?" a voice bellowed. I was ready to kick the guy's drunken ass that thought this was funny. I was sure that it must have been one of my fraternity brothers fucking with me, although I couldn't quite place the voice.


"Yes!!??" I began to yell until I opened the door fully. To my surprise, I found one of our campus security officers standing in front of me.


"I'm Officer Brady -- Tom Brady. Are you Mr. Michael Baylor?" he asked in a thick southern drawl.


"Yes, sir," I responded assuredly. In an attempt to get on his good side, I employed the best Southern accent my New Jersey upbringing could muster.


"I need to talk with you about something. Do you mind if I come in?" Since I didn't think it would be in my best interest to deny him anything, I agreed.


As I turned on the light, Julie inquired: "What's going on, Sweetie?"


"I'm not sure. Officer Brady has something to discuss with me."


"I'm so sorry to have awakened you, ma'am," Officer Brady stated sincerely.


"Is there something wrong?" Julie responded, sitting up.


"Well ... this is kind of a personal matter..." he stated, looking to me for a response.


"Whatever it is, we can talk about it in front of my girlfriend," I asserted confidently. I had nothing to hide (at least, to this point, I didn't think I did).


"OK, Mr. Baylor, if you insist: We received a complaint at 11:25 this past evening from a Sharon Babcock." The name definitely did NOT ring a bell.


"WHO?" I asked incredulously.


Officer Brady continued, "Miss Babcock claims that you, Michael Baylor, took advantage of her last night." Then, after a pause, he continued to paraphrase from his clipboard: "That is to say, she claims that you raped her."


"WHAT?!?" Both Julie and I uttered simultaneously.


"When did she say this happened?" Julie demanded.


"Her claim, ma'am, is that Mr. Baylor and she met at this fraternity's party last night at approximately 10:15. She further claims that the two of them left the house and went back to her dorm room. That is where she states the assault took place."


"That's not possible," Julie stated definitively, barely allowing Officer Brady to finish reading the statement. "Mike was with me the entire night."


"Mr. Baylor, is that true?" Officer Brady asked, as he turned his penetrating gaze upon me.


"Um, uh, yes sir" I stammered. "Well, I know it's early and my only responsibility today was to inform you of the charges against you. This is your copy of the report," he said as he ripped off a carbon copy and handed it to me. "As it states on the bottom," the officer continued "you are required to appear before the Dean a week from this Thursday at 8:00 a.m. Normally the Dean prefers to keep campus matters private and not involve the city. However, due to the seriousness of these charges, he has no choice but to notify the state if there is no resolution to these charges."


I was in complete shock. Officer Brady's voice was not registering. I had become completely numb. At some point, the officer left and I was left standing there with Julie. She was hugging me and telling me that everything would be all right. I never loved her more than I did at that moment.


I started trying to piece the night together. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out who this woman was. (During the ugly part of the investigation, we found out that I had kicked her boyfriend out of our party because he was trying to pick a fight. These trumped-up charges were just her way of getting back at me.)


"Mikey, can we come in?" I heard someone say. Before I could respond, Matt and Jim were in my room consoling me.


Matt began: "Man, we heard what happened, and it's fucking bullshit. We were sober party hosts and we know you were at the party the whole night with Julie."


"We'll definitely vouch for you, dude" Jim added.


"Thanks, I really appreciate it." I said. "Now, if you guys don't mind, I need a few minutes alone with Julie. Thanks again, guys. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."


With that, I closed the door and returned to a sleepless morning. During the course of the next couple of days, the charges were dismissed and I was able to put this ugly incident behind me. I'll never forget how important it was to me to have such strong support, which I had expected to receive from my girlfriend. But these two new brothers of mine were there for me as well. These two guys had just completed their pledgeship. Less than a week prior to the incident, I was part of a group that was responsible for making their lives a living hell. (And let me tell you that in our fraternity, "hell week" is aptly named. The pledges are pushed to the limits as a test to their convictions toward the fraternity.)


These two FNGs (Fucking New Guys), who had every reason to hate me, decided to treat me like their brother that night. These two guys may not end up being my best friends in the world, but they will ALWAYS be my brothers.


Now, THAT'S the meaning of Fraternity!