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. 

Reflection from Last Class

We had to go around campus asking Greek about their values, about what their chapter works most on, and what ritual means to them.

From this experience, I interacted with many different Greeks from all councils. Part of what I think the exercise was intended to do is make everyone realize that our chapters' endeavors, values, and ritual mean the same to most of us. Ritual is something special to reflect on, to connect us as sisters or as brothers, and to connect past alumnae with the future.

I learned something new about one of the fraternities on campus from a good friend of mine. Ben is an Alpha Tau Omega and told me about the founding of ATO following the Civil War. Part of his creed talks about discriminating against a brother based on whether he is from the North, South, East, or West. So, part of the values of ATO is acceptance. It was just a really awesome story and shows how the fraternal movement is impacted and adapts to changes in society and history.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to everyone recount the most important aspects of their chapter lives. Not everything was philanthropy and brotherhood/sisterhood. One person remarked that TGs were the most important, another partying. It just shows that peoples' reasons for joining a sorority or fraternity vary across campus.

FIJI Friends Forever

So, I am sitting at the FIJI house right now, hanging out with my friends, Nick Weaver and Mike Cox. Both of them have taken this course before, although in a FIJI-specific class. We were talking about how great it is that we have friends in other chapters. One great benefit is that we can go and hang out, reflect about our own experiences in the community or just pass time with friends.

I met my FIJI friends last Greek week, when we were paired together. And now we're BEST FRIENDS FOREVERRRRRRRRRR. But really. Our Greek week shirts said, "We're the five best friends that anyone could have...". We were the Wolfpack. We actually just had a conversation about the social change model and how to implement it in our lives. Kinda cool how EduP&L 270.04 affects a lot of people, right?

Right!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Yo, watch that!

And this:

WHO WILL GO SEE AFRICAN CATS WITH ME? I love cats.

Anyway, I chose the Disney Corporation. The company is in charge of a plethora of television channels, theme parks all over the world, and a multitude of other things like stores and merchandise. What really strikes me as great about Disney is that they manage all facets of life. Aside from making me an incredibly happy child in 1997 and 2000 when I visited the parks, they make me happy now at age 21 (in seven days).
Check out this site: http://corporate.disney.go.com/citizenship/environment.html to see what all Disney is doing in terms of environment conservation and awareness. For the past three Earth days, they have released movies showing nature and its beauty. Aside from that, even if their latest animated films (think, "Finding Nemo" and "Wall-E") an environmental focus has emerged.

In fact, Disney encourages young students to get involved. It hosts Planet Challenge-a project-based learning competition designed for 4th-6th grade classrooms enabling teachers to engage and empower their students in environmental stewardship.

I think that Disney does a great job of selling its values to the public through the mass media and through film outlets. But, really, who wants to go see "African Cats"? I do!

Valuable Homework

My own personal values are hard to define. Rarely do I take the time to examine what I find important to me. I know my strengths (Thanks, Strengths-Based Coaching Program through the Ohio Union!): Significance, Competition, Achiever, Focus, and Input. But, those are strengths and not values. So, since it's homework to figure out my values, here we go:

1. Hard work
Without hard work, I believe there isn't a point to do something. The way to success is through hard work, so I strive to do my best on every project. The majority of the great projects that have changed the world have been achieved via diligence and perseverance. Hard work is a core value of mine.

2.  Passion
Whatever I take on, I need to have a passion for it. Whether that means shouting my lungs out for the Buckeyes, or putting together a competition tournament for Mock Trial at OSU, or trying to make change in the community through PHA, I have to be passionate about my work.

3. Trust
A key tenet of any core value system is trust. Friendship and loyalty revolve around trust and an open relationship. If you can't keep a secret, then you will lose the trust of friends. Sometimes that violation of trust can ruin relationships. So, keep up the trust, and all will be well! That is why I value trust so much.

4. Family
As much as I don’t like to admit it, my family means a lot to me. Whether this is my family comprised of my friends or my actual, biological family, I do value them all. They help me do what I do; they challenge me to attain new things; they help me life up to my core values. I love them all for that.

Something of Value

Hey Friends,

So, remember the post I had about if change in the Greek community is feasible? I challenged everyone to figure out ways to collaborate with other Greek chapters. Today I experienced a change of heart. Today, the program Something of Value was put on by PHA (and wonderfully coordinated by Stacy Duh). The program sought to bring all sixteen PHA chapters together to identify the top three risks this community faces that need immediate attention. After risks were identified, break out sessions had to come up with action plans for managing these risks. Common themes that were heard were excessive drinking, underage drinking, disunity between the chapters, social media concerns, and lack of collaboration with the non-Greek community.

We had an attorney from Atlanta preside over a Mock Trial (yeah, MT!) in which a young woman had pre-gamed before going to a TG at Barley's, gone to the O after the TG. She decided to go home by herself. As she was crossing 15th, she was hit by a car and died. We had to figure out who was liable out of her big sister, the social chair, and the chapter president. Turns out they all have been held liable and given HUGE damanges (upwards of ten-million dollars) in previous real lawsuits. I think that it was eye-opening to see who is held responsible for incidents like that one. We then broke for lunch, and talked about issues facing our own chapters with international representatives and chapter advisers in attendance.

Next, all PHA council members were paired with international representatives from women's fraternities and sororities to facilitate the small groups which were comprised of groups like risk management chairs, social chairs, presidents, recruitment, PHA delegates, emerging freshmen, and emerging sophomores. Within each group, we identified problems within the community. Then the groups ranked the top three high risks, broke into four of five groups and created action plans. After the session, we all reconvened as a group of three-hundred Panhellenic women, and we shared our plans for change.

The group that impressed me the most was one of the emerging freshmen leaders groups. They identified our community problems of disunity, problems with philanthropy events, and other hot topics. They also agreed to host a freshmen roundtable to discuss or to continue a notion that we gained through the event called "Greek amnesty". Basically, nothing that was said within the groups would get any chapters in trouble. What happened at Something of Value stays at Something of Value. They still have new ambition for the Community, innovation that will help it grow and thrive here at Ohio State. And, even more exciting than that is the fact that they are the future leaders of both this Greek community and this even greater Ohio State campus. 

All in all, we identified most of the same issues that need immediate attention and crafted action plans for them. Whether it is making all TG's cash-bar and splitting the venue costs with fraternities or hosting sober events before TG's to get to know other Greeks in a sober environment before going out, a lot of great suggestions were made. PHA now knows what the community wants, and I think that a lot of great dialogue about how to improve ourselves occurred. I am inspired to be a Panhellenic woman at this campus at this current moment in the community's history. We are making changes. And it's not just PHA; today showed the rest of the council and me that women in every single council also want change to occur. Now, we just have to take up the flag and begin our journey of progress.

Who are my sisters?

Who are my sisters?

We are passionate.
We are loud.
We are funny.
We are unique.
We are amazing.
We are insane.
We are beautiful.
We are ridiculous.
We are loving.
We are opinionated.
We are driven.
We are scholars
            soldiers
            leaders
            learners
            servers
            changemakers.
We are Delta Zetas.
We are sisters through and through.
We are not four years but for life.

PS

Studying in the Greek life office is pretty awesome. Even if it means I'm not out on Oval Beach. It looks like a party though.

Is Unity within the Greek Community Feasible?

Lately due to a series of events, I have been wondering if it is even possible to unite the Greek community as a whole. Sadly, more often than not, the answer I come to is no. We claim to aspire to attain the best for ourselves; however, when it comes to attaining the best for our community, I believe a schism occurs. Yes, we belong to separate chapter. I am a Delta Zeta, you might be an XYZ, or a ABC, but at the end of the day, who understands what our letters mean? Sure, we all do since we had to learn them to be initiated. But, Non-Greeks probably don't. When they look at our lettered sweatshirts (yes, they are cute, I know) all they see are "sororities" and "frats". Disclaimer-I abhor the word frat in relation to a fraternity. They see only Greek life as a whole.

So, if all that someone might see is a Greek-lettered organization, why is it that we can never seem to get it together, to unite and work towards an amazing Greek-wide philanthropy event? I am frustrated often by this community's lack of effort, or if not lack of effort then definitely a lack of enthusiasm. If we have a great philanthropy, then why can't we join behind an event to benefit an amazing cause?

That is my challenge to this community: come together and support each other. But more than that, come together and support PHILANTHROPY.

So, let's talk about the ways in which we support our philanthropies as chapters. More often than not, we host events where we sell food late at night on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. From 11pm-3am typically, drunks from around campus convene on a house's front lawn and eat delicious drunk food. How is this a good stereotype for our philanthropy events? Answer: it's not. That being said, money is still being raised for great causes, so houses continue to host events. Let's challenge ourselves though to look outside of the box, to think of new and better ways to raise money for our individual causes. Better yet, let's challenge ourselves to look outside of the box, to think of new and better ways to raise money for our community cause!

I believe that when that is accomplished, even if the event admittedly has some flaws, that great things can be done within our community. No event is perfect. We can make great strides towards Greek unity if we move forward and simply say, "Okay, we will go ahead and try this event. If it does not work, then we can always come up with a better idea next time." We need to try and achieve unity or else we will fall apart.

University Archives and Greek Life

Did you know that you can access the University Archives? That you can access every single article that The Lantern has written since its inception in the 1880s? Well, I am here to tell you that you can.

If you go to go.osu.edu/archives and click on Lantern archives, you can search different things related to Greek life at Ohio State, and you can learn so much about your particular fraternity or sorority.

Currently, I am working on creating a Panhellenic-wide newsletter called The Panhellenic Post. As a part of the newsletter, we are trying to feature fun facts about PHA since its inception. Oh, its beginning. Right, when was that exactly? Great question. No one on Panhellenic, myself included, knew that answer. We had no idea when our organization began at Ohio State. So, what did I do? I looked today on the Lantern archives, searching words like "Panhellenic" <OR> "Pan-hellenic" <AND> "women". What did I find? The rich history of our organization which began in 1904. Yep, there you have it: PHA has existed for 107 years, for more years than my chapter has on campus. That is something incredible to behold, right? Exactly.

So, I encourage you to do the same for your chapter. Find out fun stories about its history, and, while doing so, find out more about yourself! :)

Circle of Sisterhood

The Panhellenic Association's new philanthropy is Circle of Sisterhood. Here is a quick video outlining the main ideas of the philanthropy. I am super excited to raise money for such an amazing organization that strives to do so much! Created by Panhellenic women for Panhellenic women, this organization truly inspires me :)

Introduction

Hello, blogosphere!


The creation of a new blog necessitates an introductory post, an introductory post filled with the normal questions one would ask upon meeting someone new for the first time:


[Who am I?]


My name is Meagan Woodall, and I am a third-year, Political Science and Spanish major at The Ohio State University. As a student, I pride myself on being extremely involved in on-campus activities and student organizations. I am President of Mock Trial at OSU--an organization I am extremely privileged to lead and watch grow and succeed as the years progress. Also, I am in Student Leadership Advocates as well as other great student organizations. Most important or central to my success at the University, however, is Greek life. I am a Delta Zeta sister as well as Director of Internal Communication for Ohio State's Panhellenic Association.


[Since I credit Greek life as central to my collegiate experience, the question then arises: Why go Greek? Why join Delta Zeta?]


Freshman year, the thought of joining a sorority crossed my mind. But, that's it. It didn't do anything more than make me think, "Is Greek life right for me?" When I answered that question, I decided to wait and not go through recruitment. I already had involvement with other student organizations, and I didn't want to overload myself with too many commitments. Sophomore came, and I found myself missing something. I wanted to join an organization filled with strong, independent women who wanted to make great change. I decided, then, that Greek life might after all be for me. I went through formal recruitment last Winter and found myself overwhelmed by all of the great women I met. However, amidst the chaos, one house emerged at the forefront: Delta Zeta.


I am in my sorority because of all of my amazing sisters. They really are my family. I never had a sister, so now that I have ninety-some, I know what sisterhood really means. I am a Delta Zeta to make change within the Greek community, to possess the opportunity to help guide my chapter through good and through bad to ultimately better ourselves. To leave our legacy for the future. I am here for Philanthropy, for Service, for Leadership, for Scholarship. Most importantly, I am here to uphold the values of our creed:

To the world,
I promise temperance and insight and courage,
To crusade for justice,
To seek the truth and defend it always: 
To those whom my life may touch in slight measure,
May I give graciously
Of what is mine; 
To my friends,
Understanding and appreciation; 
To those closer ones,
Love that is ever steadfast; 
To my mind,
Growth; 
To myself,
Faith
That I may walk truly
In the light of the Flame. 
— Dorothy Mumford Williams, Alpha Zeta (Adelphi University), 1939[How do I feel after reading the Blogabus?]Initially, when I viewed both of the videos on Tyler's Fraternal Change Blog, I was feeling rather pessimistic. I am one of those students that spends parts of class on my laptop, taking notes while I tweet, facebook, write emails, and check my Google Calendar. The videos demonstrated that times have changed from the Delta Zeta of my mother's generation, for example, to mine. We must recognize those advances in technology and learn to hone them in order to help us, not to hinder us. "You've got a better shot if you take a risk." Change is often risky; however, we must change our organizations and ourselves to meet the demands of a moving society, one in which transitions in technology often overpower and outrace organizations' old traditions and force them to adapt, to change.I like a good challenge. Naturally then, I feel even more compelled now to implement change within the Sorority and Fraternity Life Community.  When people question the validity or the relevance of the community, I feel even more motivated to show them that they are wrong. I was one of the doubters my freshman year. Now, I cannot imagine my life without Greek life. So many amazing opportunities have been presented to me since I joined Delta Zeta. Without them, I would not be as well-rounded or as involved as I currently am.