Some thoughts on the Greek Life update

I've been thinking about making a post like this for a while now, despite my perpetual fear of causing controversy. Most of my previous blog posts have been on "safe" topics, if not "lighter." After the email we got today temporarily suspending several Greek sororities and fraternities, and seeing a bunch of angry posts on facebook in response, I did want to write my thoughts and post them, because for once I find that I really want people to know what I am thinking.

(For anyone wanting to read about what has happened, here is an article in the Trinitonian)

I would like to start by making it clear that I have nothing against Greek Life on principle, and I actually know relatively little about what goes on-- I see posts and pictures on facebook, get emails from the Dean, see ads in LeeRoy about various charity events. One of my best friends at Trinity is heavily involved in her sorority, and I know it means a lot to her. I am glad she has a group of sisters that are there for her, and I've seen them come together during difficult times. I really do think that is so amazing, and I would never want to take something like that away.

However. Dean Tuttle wrote in his email:

"Some of the issues considered involved hazing, alcohol use and abuse, sexually exploitative behavior, sexual harassment, coercive behavior, and threats..."

"Hazing" can mean a lot of things, and so while I assume he wouldn't take such drastic measures for a relatively minor incident, I can put this aside for now, as someone who has no clue what, exactly, that entails. Alcohol use and abuse-- again, while it may have been more than normal (hence "abuse"), I will ignore this. The rest of the issues are unacceptable, and I have trouble seeing why people would defend themselves against this. This is not to say that I think every member of the accused Greek Life has participated in this-- I would actually like to make it clear that I do not think that is the case. But if something like this was going on in any organization I belonged to, I would want to spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out what has been going on, and what my group stands for, instead of simply arguing against the accusations. If there is ONE shred of doubt that their organization has not been responsible in any way for sexually harassing a member, or threatening them, then they need to work to try and fix that. I do not blame a whole organization for the acts of a few people, but if anyone who did not actively participate in the events described in the Dean's email are ignoring this issue in their attempt to exonerate themselves, then I do blame them for that.

Here is where I see it as being a big deal:

The victims of the actions above, as well as the people who reported them-- what are they going through right now? What did they go through that made them feel as though they had to report it? I have great difficulty seeing someone report events unless they felt so uncomfortable in their environment that they had no other choice, and that is a problem. The line in Dean Tuttle's email that made me angry was this:

"Retaliation against any individual involved in the investigation is strictly prohibited and will result in a doubling of the sanctions imposed upon the group involved."

If someone is so upset and so uncomfortable that they felt as though they had to report something, knowing the position they were putting themselves into, how are they feeling now? And we have to get an email ordering us not to retaliate against them? We are in college, not middle school. These are supposed to be the best years of our lives, not the worst. And yet someone is being punished for doing something that they saw was either right or necessary for their own health, physical or mental.

AND-- after all that-- the issue that everybody seems to be furious about is the suspension of recognition? If these events are as heinous as they sound, as the rumors have hinted, then I'm sorry: I know these fraternities and sororities mean a whole lot to the people in them, and I know it's unfair to punish a group for the actions of certain people. But what makes me more upset is the treatment that it sounds like some of these people went through, which is now being placed second, in the minds of some students, to the re-recognition of various Greek Life groups.

I have to say-- my heart goes out to the people who have been hurt in this far more than for the groups that got hurt. Despite suspending recognition, the sisters and brothers are still sisters and brothers-- nothing changes that. But if Dean Tuttle is actually genuinely concerned about "retaliation" towards certain individuals over their discomfort with certain practices, then I genuinely hope they too have brothers and sisters that will be there for them.