Shutter Fraternities for Young Women's Good... Not Good!

This is the article that I read: Shutter Fraternities for Young Women's Good.

Many of you may be familiar with it already, but if you aren't, I suggest that you read this. Now. Do it.

I am outraged for multiple reasons because of this article. First, I am outraged that Liz Seccuro was gang raped; that is something that should not be wished upon anyone in any situation. I am also saddened that this event was done by fraternity men. But, more than anything, I am angry that Ms. Seccuro is blaming an entire community for an isolated event.

The Greek community has been targeted by Ms. Seccuro as well as the author of this article: "The Greek system is dedicated to quelling young men's anxiety about submitting themselves to four years of sissy-pants book learning by providing them with a variety of he-man activities: drinking, drugging, ESPN watching and the sexual mistreatment of women." What the hell are "he-man" activities? I don't know about you, but I know plenty of fraternity men who were never taught in their pledge period how to sexually mistreat women. I know plenty of fraternity men who were taught quite the opposite: many of them have walked me or a sister home after a night of drinking or after a long night spent at the library. They are taught to be gentlemen. I acknowledge that there are some who are womanizers. I met one this weekend whose actions made me sick to my stomach, and also made me ask my boyfriend why he was friends with a brother who acted that way.


 These exceptions to the rule are the people who make Liz Seccuro think that all Greek men are rapists or pigs or womanizers. BUT I have met independents, non-afilliated boys--I will note that distinction--who use drugs, who are alcoholics, and who watch ESPN. What are the differences, then, between them and other men? The mere fact that they are not Greek? That is absurd. The author later notes, "Can the mere presence of slur-chanting fraternity men really create an environment that robs young women of equal opportunity to education? Yes, it can."

No, it doesn't. I hate to be rude or blunt, but non-Greeks have committed rapes. Non-Greeks have called women horrible slurs. Non-Greeks have done all that and more. So, why isn't the author attacking them as well? If we let men call us sluts, we are demeaning ourselves. If we let men treat us poorly, then we are doing nothing but working against empowering ourselves. It's our own damn fault. How do we fix that? We don't let anyone call us sluts or hoes or slampieces. Whether they are Greek or non-Greek, it is our responsibility to tell them that what they are doing is not okay! The answer is not to shut down fraternity life.

But that is what the author argues. She claims that, "If you want to improve women's lives on campus, if you want to give them a fair shot at living and learning as freely as men, the first thing you could do is close down the fraternities." Literally this made me upset. If the problem is men, then it's not just fraternity men! Let's take all men out of colleges. We would really have an advantage then. But the author's bias is against fraternities, against many people who are my friends and who are some of the nicest, smartest, most-involved gentlemen in the entire world. I just wish that people would be more open-minded and realize that issues like the one the author and Ms. Steccuro experienced are not just limited to one demographic.

Should I work for the Odyssey? (An Epic Question)

Okay, so I despise The Odyssey. I think that it all too often portrays the community in a way that does us more harm than good. I got a call today from a woman who is the VP of Recruitment for the publishing corporation that makes the paper. She had received my name from a sorority sister, and she wanted to know if I would be interested in working on the exec team for the Ohio State edition. I asked what the various positions entailed and was told that the responsibilities included assistant publisher who would work in getting advertisers for the paper. Well, who would these advertisers be? In past issues of the paper, they included bars and drunk food locations. As a Panhellenic woman who co-edits and co-publishes the Panhellenic Post--something we created to help with AFLV requirements and to attempt to counteract The Odyssey--I didn't know what to say.

I explained that there were many editing errors (or, a perceived complete lack of editing in my opinion) in the paper, and I told her that this is something that frustrates me immensely. But I didn't tell her that I don't agree with the purpose of the paper; I didn't tell her that I am frustrated and annoyed and angry with the way that it portrays us. Articles about what to eliminate from your diet to get skinny, or articles about how you pregamed Greek Week activities are precisely the aspects of Sorority and Fraternity life that should not be showcased. I get that these are papers for Greeks by Greeks, but there are copies at Cuzzin's and at restaurants around campus. Anyone--even non-affiliated people--can see these stories and see the errors contained within them.

I really don't know if I want my name attached to that paper. Frankly, I don't even want my chapter or my community associated with that paper.

I really think that the only way that I would work for The Odyssey is if it changed. If it featured great things (which it admittedly has from time to time) in every issue. If it spotlighted men and women from the community in a "Greek-person-of-the-week" type of deal. If it stopped telling women which tanning salon works best or telling men how to bulk up or get with women. Then and only then would I consider working for it.

I guess I answered the question I posed in the title pretty much then. The answer to that question is, "No." The only way I would work for The Odyssey is if I were to be a writer and strive to change the content that it holds. That's my rant. Thanks for listening.

Bystander Effect

From time to time, we have a friend who gets too drunk. Visibly stumbling, slurring his or her words, acting like a general fool. I have been this person before. I have been walked home by a friend or sister because I was too drunk. Sometimes though that doesn't happen; no one steps up and walks a sister home or no one tells a sister to stop drinking if she needs to. I know that this happens in all Greek chapters across campus, and I would wager a bet that it happens all around the country.

There was a time just a month ago where I didn't tell a sister to stop drinking when I should have. She told me that she was fine, and I believed her. At least, I wanted to believe her so I could keep talking to this guy I liked at the time. It was selfish, so incredibly selfish, now that I think back on it. I wanted to keep talking to a boy so I let my sister keep drinking herself into oblivion. I figured that she was okay. Turns out, she wasn't. She passed out on the floor. It was at that moment that I realized that I needed to take action immediately. I took her back to my apartment and helped her. But it shouldn't have come to that. I should have walked her home much earlier before any of this had happened.

Due to my selfish ways, I didn't help out a sister until it was absolutely necessary. This is one of the biggest aspects of risk management that we can prevent as a community. If only we looked out for each other to make sure that everyone was okay we could prevent so many awful things like the situation that I described above.

Collaboration

If anyone wants to have a collaborate event, please let me know. I want to apply what we have learned over these past eight weeks to reality. 

So, if you want to do this, let me know. I think that we can do great things if we work together.

#FLCSP11

Faults

Sometimes, like today, I find myself not living my oath.

Today, for example, I am wearing an inappropriate t-shirt relating to Greek life. It says something along the lines of "down and derby". Did I think about the implications of the shirt when I put it on? Yes. Did I still wear it? Yes.

Does that make me a bad person? I hope not. Does it mean that I am not representing the community well? Probably.

Merr. I'm not sure how I feel about that. 

Oath

When faced with the question: What is an oath? I immediately turned to my love of art history and paintings. Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii symbolizes the eternal notion of an oath and the sincerity of the moment. The Horatii were a family in Rome, the city that was warring with another rival city. The three brothers of the Horatii (the ones with their arms extended) pledged to their father an eternal oath: to go to war, to fight, against three brothers from the rival city to defend their homeland. The women weep, sad with the thought that they may never see their brothers or husbands again. The men may die fighting for their beliefs. However, the men remain firm, resolute in the decision to defend honor and values and a way of life.

This nationalist sentiment can be translated to Greek life. We decided to go through recruitment, we decided to join our houses, we decided to go through new member processes, and ultimately we decided to become initiated. No one forces us into initiation, and I am willing to bet that we were all offered an opportunity to leave before the real parts of initiation begin. We had a choice. We can leave. But we stay. We, like the Horatii brothers, have made an oath--an eternal promise to something bigger than us--that we will promote the cause, and we will wave the flag to fight for what is right and good and just. 

We affirmed the principles of our organizations and promised to live by them. We promised to live by them not just sometimes, not just when it's convenient. We promised to live by them every minute, of every hour, of every day. 

This past weekend, I was initiated into the Fraternal Values Society. FVS is a Greek organization dedicated to living by the values and ritual of our own societies. We reaffirm our creeds, our mission statements, and our organizational values. We promise to live by them and to promote them whenever we can. We are supposed to be the leaders to challenge the community in order to grow, expand, and improve. 

I challenge all of you to do the same. Live the ritual. Analyze your creed. Figure out how your organization elevates you to a higher standard of living. Live it. Every day.

Yo soy un ciudadano

Yeah, I'm a Spanish major... #legit
 
How do I display citizenship within the SFL community?
I want to better the community through my work with PHA, and I think that that shows active participation within the Greek community. I also co-started The Panhellenic Post, a PHA-wide newsletter that helps to unite the community and give everyone the news of what amazing things we Greek women are doing at Ohio State. I also try to attend different chapters' philanthropy events to get to know more Greeks and support them in their causes. I just like getting to know other Greeks, not based off of which house they are from, but as themselves. I have had awesome conversations with Greeks in Student Leadership Advocates (one of my orgs) that I never would have gotten elsewhere. Through participating in things like this class or "Something of Value", I have taken initiatives to improve the community through my actions. I love this community, and want nothing more than to see it improve and grow and flourish for the rest of time!

How does my chapter display citizenship within the SFL community?
Delta Zeta prides itself on being involved in other chapters' philanthropy events. We love participating in the events we can--for fun and to support great causes. While we do that, we also say that we want to meet more houses and to reach out to other houses. Sadly, this seems to not happen very often. I would like that to change. I want to remove a stigma that women from my chapter created two or three years ago. Those women are gone. We are a new and growing group of 95 women. So, who wants to have a dinner swap? (#THISGIRL). Hit me up. All that aside, I think that we could host more philanthropy events in order to become more visible within the community. Our philanthropy is Delta Zeta's Big Man on Campus--a male beauty pageant essentially--that we host each Spring. But, if we did more, smaller philanthropy events or things of that nature, we could help the community (and ourselves) so much more.

How does the SFL community display citizenship within the OSU community?
Great question. As an involved student, I have seen that the majority of student leaders on this campus are involved in Greek life. In that sense, a very small portion of our community display citizenship on a regular basis. Just walk into the CSLS and count the number of Greek letters you see. But again, it's a very small portion. The majority of the community does not reach out to the "non-Greeks". Make fun of a geed for his cargo shorts and Honda Prius all you want, but if 90% of the Ohio State community hates us and judges us for being alcoholic fratdaddies and slampieces... isn't something wrong with us? We have been discussing this issue in PHA since we all attained our positions. We want to reach out, to show the community who we are.We are hosting an event called "Sweets for Sororities" which aims to connect non-Greek women and professors and administration at Ohio State with PHA women. We want to show which women have studied abroad where, which women have done fantastic research. What we don't want to show? Formal pictures, TG pictures, recruitment-board pictures. Get the idea? We want them to know us and not judge us when we wear our letters in public. We want change to occur. We also are having a PHA philanthropy event, Capture the Splash, that our very own Shaina is working on. Through this event, we want to unite the Greek community and the non-Greek community. So, strides are being made to sort of reverse the damage done in past years, and that is exciting to realize.