The “Safe Campus” Act has been met with significant criticism since it was introduced into Congress this summer. There are a few troubling aspects to the proposed legislation, but one in particularly really stands out: unless rape victims report their assaults to the police, the school isn’t allowed to investigate them, or levy any sort of action against the accused. This bill was supported by much of national Greek Life–both the North-American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Conference were on board. But one sorority–Alpha Phi–just broke from the NPC to say it doesn’t endorse the deeply problematic bill.

Alpha Phi released a statement obtained by the Huffington Post today that outlined the organization’s views on the bill. It explained:

We are writing at the request of many of our members and chapters to clarify Alpha Phi’s position on the 2015 Safe Campus and Fair Campus Acts which have been endorsed by the National Panhellenic Conference. Alpha Phi has not endorsed this legislation and has not committed to any financial support.

Additionally, Alpha Phi explained its position further, saying:

We believe our sisters who are survivors should have choices in how, when and to whom they go to for support or to report the crime. They should have their own voice and the support and encouragement they need to move forward including reporting as they choose to.

The issue critics have with the Safe Campus Act isn’t necessarily that police shouldn’t be the ones looking into a crime. Rather, the act would hamstring universities’ abilities to take any actions. Given that police investigations and convictions can take years, groups that oppose the act are arguing that a school should be able to work in the meantime to provide a safe environment for its students.

Additionally, requiring victims of rape to report their assaults to the police opens up a whole new set of issues–including the fact that rape victims often aren’t treated with respect or dignity. Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX, an advocacy group, explains:

Many survivors of color, who experience police surveillance and brutality every day, don’t want to go to the very people who have been agents of violence against them. And for male survivors and survivors assaulted by someone of the same sex, reporting to the police won’t do anything: Many states still don’t recognize rape against people of the same gender, or against men, as rape at all.

There are other arguments against the Safe Campus Act as well–for example, many other crimes (drug possession, alcohol violations, etc) are able to be handled with schools without involving the police.

It’s unclear exactly which reasons motivated Alpha Phi to clarify its position on the bill, but the organization’s executive director, Linda Kahangi explained:

Many of our members — both collegians and alumnae — had expressed concern that NPC’s endorsement of these two bills implied that Alpha Phi had endorsed them. We wanted to clarify to them that we had not.

It’s an important clarification, and will hopefully cause some of the other Greek Life fraternities and sororities under these umbrella organizations to question their involvement as well. While making campuses safe for all is a great goal, the Safe Campus Act falls too far short to fit the bill.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Alpha Phi Breaks From National Greek Life Organizations on “Safe Campus” Bill appeared first on Law Street.

From sorority secrets to celebrity chicken thefts, the Best of the Week from Law Street was truly bizarre. The number one article of the week, from Anneliese Mahoney, details a new lawsuit from Phi Sigma Sigma alleging that a former member, whom they can’t identify because of anonymous online postings, has leaked closely guarded secrets. The number two article of the week, from Alexis Evans, is an interesting look at the increasing–and increasingly weird–school dress codes across the country, and the third most-read article of the week, from Ashley Shaw, is a funny take on Mila Kunis’ continued legal problems over an alleged chicken theft in the Ukraine. ICYMI, here is the Best of the Week from Law Street.

#1 Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority Girl Sued For Releasing These Secrets

Sororities, and Greek Life organizations in general, gain much of their prestige from tradition and history. As a result, certain traditions and secrets are kept under lock and key, and members are trusted to keep it that way. But now, one former sorority girl may have to pay a big price for violating that sacred trust. Read full article here.

#2 Are Schools Going Too Far With These Dress Code Rules?

Fashion is meant to be a form of self expression, but if you’re currently a teenage girl in high school that expression might be seriously limited due to strict dress code restrictions. Of course making sure there are no visible butt cracks, nipples, or genitals is a must for school administrators, but when bare shoulders, backs, and thighs are considered just as taboo there’s a serious problem. Read full article here.

#3 Star’s Legal Battles Over Childhood Chicken Theft Continue

I am a busy person, which means I don’t get to spend hours at a time following the latest Hollywood gossip. I can usually survive without keeping up with the Kardashians and the Bieber and so on. However, every once in a while, I stumble across a celebrity scandal so interesting that I question everything I thought I knew about myself and begin to wonder why I ever do anything other than watch E!. Read full article here.

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICYMI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Sororities, and Greek Life organizations in general, gain much of their prestige from tradition and history. As a result, certain traditions and secrets are kept under lock and key, and members are trusted to keep it that way. But now, one former sorority girl may have to pay a big price for violating that sacred trust. A former Phi Sigma Sigma member who has been listed as “Jane Doe” is being sued by the national organization for giving up the sorority’s secret handshake, among other things.

The suit was filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle, Washington. The reason for that location appears to be because that’s where a web comic site called Penny Arcade is headquartered. In one of the message boards on the site, a poster with the username “stepscloser” wrote about particular Phi Sigma Sigma rituals and secrets, specifically the group’s secret handshake, knock, initiation process, name, and oath.

The national organization for Phi Sigma Sigma is taking the disclosures very seriously, and claims that “stepscloser” knew exactly what she was doing when she leaked the information to the site. Karin Jones, an attorney for the sorority, stated:

The defendant knew that the information that she was posting had not been publicly disclosed and would damage [the sorority]. The defendant admitted in her posting that the confidential information she disclosed is never written down or recorded and that the organization and its members consider the information ‘sacred.’

Phi Sigma Sigma is claiming that “stepscloser” violated the contract she had to sign when she became a member, and the suit aims to obtain a court order to make her stop disclosing any other information in the future–although at this point it seems like they haven’t tracked down exactly who “stepscloser” was, and whether or not she was an alumna or left the sorority. However, the course of action does make sense, but they’re also claiming that she should pay monetary damages–echoed in the comment by Jones above, in which she claims that “stepscloser” would know about the damage she caused to the sorority. Given all the high-profile instances of Greek Life members behaving badly in recent months and years, these seem like rather inane pieces of information. While I’m sure they’re protected and important traditions, things like a secret handshake or knock don’t actually seem like they could be “damaging.”

This actually isn’t the first time that Phi Sigma Sigma has gone after the information posted about it on Penny Arcade. Back in 2012, Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade posted a portion of a letter sent to him by the sorority’s lawyer asking him to take the information down. He appeared to refuse to do so.

Whether or not Jane Doe/”stepscloser” will actually ever see this lawsuit appears unknown. Phi Sigma Sigma doens’t really have a good way to figure out who she is short of getting help from Penny Arcade–which seems unlikely–or asking for some sort of subpoena. That being said, the sorority has shown how far it will go to protect tradition.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority Girl Sued For Releasing These Secrets appeared first on Law Street.

Last November, Rolling Stone shocked the nation with its 9,000-word article entitled “A Rape on Campus.” The piece told the horrific story of a University of Virginia freshman known only as “Jackie.” She claimed to have been gang raped by seven Phi Kappa Psi frat members during a frat date party. The article accused UVA of a “cycle of sexual violence” and “institutional indifference” that preferred to silence girls like Jackie who reported rape instead of helping them. The piece started an impressive national dialogue about rape culture, particularly rape culture on college campuses. Now after four months of investigating and roughly 70 interviews, police have concluded that the gang rape that reignited a movement most likely never even happened.

Charlottesville police announced Monday that they have found “no substantive basis” to support the gang rape detailed in Rolling Stone’s article. Investigators also found “no evidence” that a Phi Kappa Psi frat party even took place on the night of Sept. 28, 2012, which was when the rape was reported to have occurred.

In the above video Chief Longo says,

We’re not able to conclude to any substantive degree that an incident occurred at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, or any other fraternity house, for that matter. That doesn’t mean something terrible didn’t happen to Jackie on the evening of Sept. 28, 2012. We’re just not able to gather sufficient facts to determine what that is.

There were a number of unsubstantiated claims made by Jackie in the Rolling Stone article that investigators detailed debunking. For starters, police found no proof that a party even occurred at the frat house the night of the alleged rape, but instead proved the Phi Kappa Psi brothers were attending a formal at their sister sorority, Delta Gamma, that evening. Jackie also claimed to have been hit over the head with a glass bottle during the rape, and that her roommate at the time, a nursing student, later removed glass shards from her face. But when police interviewed the roommate, she denied removing any such glass and claimed the wound was more consistent with an abrasion from having fallen. The list of inconsistencies didn’t stop there. For the full text from the Charlottesville police statement detailing their findings in the UVA rape case click here.

According to Chief Longo, the case is not closed but rather suspended until police are able to gather more information or someone comes forward providing more information.

So, what does this mean for Rolling Stone and its journalistic integrity? The magazine, which operated under the assumption that everything Jackie told it was true, already released a statement taking responsibility for its mistakes in handling the article. It admitted to its failure to contact the accused in the story, known as “Drew,” and get his side of the story. Now it’s opening itself up for further review by allowing the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism to complete its own investigation into the magazine’s reporting, which will later be published in Rolling Stone in early April.

As for Phi Kappa Psi, the accused fraternity might be seeking legal action against Rolling Stone for “defamation”. UVA’s Phi Psi chapter said in a statement provided to Business Insider:

Phi Kappa Psi is now exploring its legal options to address the extensive damage caused by Rolling Stone — damage both to the chapter and its members and to the very cause upon which the magazine was focused.

From a legal perspective the frat has a pretty good case, due to the magazine’s gross lack of fact checking and failure to even contact the frat for its side of the story. However if the fraternity members plan to follow through with a suit, they must be willing to expose themselves yet again to scrutiny that could result in even more unwanted publicity.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Police Find No Evidence to Support UVA Gang Rape Story appeared first on Law Street.

Earlier this week, video surfaced of members of the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity chanting an incredibly racist song on a bus ride to a party. The song involved heavy use of the n-word and  after the video went viral on Twitter, University of Oklahoma President David Boren responded by kicking the chapter off campus and expelling two of the students involved. Those two students are named Parker Rice and Levi Pettit, and they were expelled because of their role in leading the chant. Now the SAE chapter is making noise about filing some sort of lawsuit against either the University of Oklahoma, or possibly against Boren himself.

The reason that many are now speculating that a suit may be forthcoming is because the group of students representing the now-defunct fraternity have retained Stephen Jones. Jones is a pretty recognizable legal force in Oklahoma, perhaps best known for defending Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. While Jones has yet to file any sort of lawsuit, according to KOCO Oklahoma City:

Jones said the board of directors at the OU SAE chapter asked him to investigate certain legal matters that may impact the chapter as a result of the racist chant video. Jones said he has not yet been asked to initiate litigation against any person or party at this time.

There are multiple different legal issues that could be at play here–first and foremost are possible First Amendment Rights inherent in kicking someone out of school and disbanding a fraternity based on something that they said. The debate over the First Amendment is especially complicated given that the University of Oklahoma is a public institution, not a private one. The school accepts federal and state funds and, as a public university, it represents the public–namely the government. While the University of Oklahoma can certainly argue that it’s allowed to expel the students and kick them out for violating the code of conduct, First Amendment concerns may outweigh that. While Jones isn’t representing the expelled students specifically, rather the board representing the members of SAE, it’s possible that if the expelled students decide to file the lawsuit, he’ll be on the front lines.

In addition to the First Amendment concerns, there are also possible due process and 14th Amendment issues with the way in which the students were kicked off campus. There are also concerns that those former members of SAE were painted with too broad a brush, even if some of them weren’t the offenders who participated in the chant.

Overall, it seems like a legal battle is brewing in Oklahoma. What those men did was beyond inappropriate and despicable, and from a moral point of view I think Boren’s actions were not only incredibly warranted but absolutely necessary. However, he may soon have to defend those actions in court.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Expelled Fraternity May Sue University of Oklahoma appeared first on Law Street.

University of Oklahoma’s President is giving chapter members of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) exactly one day to get off the campus after a shocking video of the fraternity brothers chorusing a racist chant surfaced on social media.

The video uploaded to Youtube Sunday reportedly shows a bus full of of well dressed white men and women on Saturday chanting in unison: “There will never be a ni**** in SAE. There will never be a ni**** in SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** in SAE.”

The video can be found here, but keep in mind it is extremely offensive.

According to KOKO Oklahoma City, President David Boren gave the fraternity brothers until midnight Monday to pack up their things and leave. In his statement he denounces the members saying:

Real Sooners are not racist. Real Sooners are not bigots. Real Sooners believe in equal opportunity. Real Sooners treat all people with respect. Real Sooners love each other and take care of each other like family members.

Updated statement attached – DBo pic.twitter.com/xxfiJwCh0P

— David Boren (@President_Boren) March 9, 2015

Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national chapter was quick to shut down Oklahoma’s Kappa chapter after being informed of the video saying they were “disgusted by this video” and “offer our empathy not only to anyone outside the organization who is offended but also to our brothers who come from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities.” They took to Twitter to offer this official statement:

While we correct our server issues, here’s our statement. pic.twitter.com/yOBqubcLFO

— Sigma Alpha Epsilon (@sae1856) March 9, 2015

The university is taking this situation seriously, announcing they will be launching a formal investigation into the video and will punish any students involved.

If the video is indeed of OU students, this behavior will not be tolerated and is contrary to all of our values. We are investigating. – DBo

— David Boren (@President_Boren) March 9, 2015

What’s probably most shocking about the video is the perfect unison in which the students are heard chanting. It doesn’t at all sound like this is the first time they’ve recited this chant and the lynching references could mean this tradition dates back awhile. However, Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national chapter is denying any ties to the chant and seems to be just as disgusted with it as the rest of the nation. Like in many hazing or other Greek life scandals, this video may end up tarnishing the organization’s reputation as a whole.

The only positive thing that can be said about this video is the zero tolerance policy for racism shown by University of Oklahoma administrators. This video is just further proof that contrary to some people racism is still alive, and this nation has a lot more work to do before we see its extinction.

—

Alexis Evans (@Lex_vans) is an Editorial Assistant at Law Street and a Buckeye State native new to Washington D.C. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in business from Ohio University. When she’s not taking Buzzfeed quizzes, she enjoys watching reality TV and cooking. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Jeff Simms via Flickr]

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post University of Oklahoma Fraternity Shut Down After Racist Chant appeared first on Law Street.

Ask anyone who has been to a college campus that has a fairly active Greek system, and you will hear some very strong opinions about the institutions. From those who think they are the absolutely best thing in the worl to those who think the idea is antiquated and the system needs a major renovation or even a demolition.

There are problematic aspects of Greek culture, to be sure, but is also a feeling of comradery and trust that goes into becoming a member of an organization. For some a fraternity or sorority might mean sister- or brotherhood, family, and fun while to others it is elitist, dangerous, and borders on bullying. Read on to learn about greek life and the arguments for and against it.

Brief History of Greek Life

Secret societies have long been a part of the cultural makeup of the United States. Students at the College of William & Mary in 1776 (does that year ring a bell?) formed a secret society called Phi Beta Kappa. It was the first Greek fraternity and set the precedence for those that followed: Greek letters, a secret ritual, a secret handshake, mottoes, a badge, and a code of ethics for all members. This group put an emphasis on academics and personal behavior, stressing the importance of being a gentleman.

The early 1880s saw a group of fraternities that is now called the Union Tria: Kappa Alpha Society, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi. More and more fraternities were forming, often forming triads to keep in contact with other systems should problems arise.

In the 1850s the first sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, was founded, though it was not called a sorority at the time. It was during the mid-1800s that people started looking down on secret societies in fear of the unknown.

The National Panhellenic Conference (PANHEL, as it is called at many colleges) was founded in 1902 to unite sororities and in 1909, the National Interfraternity Conference (now the North-American Inferfraternity Council) was established to do the same with fraternities. As African Americans started to enter the college system with greater force and presence, organizations such as Alpha Phi Alpha were formed, as most other Greek organizations instituted racial and religious limitations on their membership until the 1960s.  Eventually the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, and the National Multicultural Greek Council would also be formed to govern their respective organizations.

World War I and World War II brought trouble for the Greek system. Most college-aged men went into battle, and fraternities couldn’t keep their charters due to low membership. Many houses were used to hold troops, or were used to hold spillover students after dormitories were taken over. Smaller fraternities merged together to create larger ones in hope of keeping both alive. However, the opposite problem started when the boys came home from war: there was an influx of men on college campuses that wished to go Greek, and the fraternities could become selective. This brought about the tradition of hazing to see who was “worthy” of joining.

Since that time, fraternities and sororities have endured during times of distrust and membership decreases to now have prosperity and popularity. Organizations no longer have racial or religious barriers to membership, at least in their handbooks.

Currently, many schools have at least some Greek letter organization, whether it is social, service, or academic Greek. In some colleges, up to 70 percent of the student body is involved in some form of Greek life. However, some schools don’t allow Greek organizations due to stigmatism, low interest, or history. Many schools fall between the two extremes.

What issues do greek organizations need to face now?

Hazing

Image Courtesy of JayBeezy58 via Wikimedia Commons.

Hazing has been at the forefront of much of the modern criticism of Greek life. Hazing typically occurs during the pledge period when a prospective member has to prove him or herself worthy of becoming an official member.

Almost all Greek organizations do have requirements to join the organization. Some of the requirements include interviewing current members, study hours, participating in service events, and memorizing the rules and history of the organization. Some sororities and fraternities focus on those who are academic, social, or sports leaders at the school. Earlier requirements to join Greek did include having the right family or the right bank account to back up the bid.

Many colleges require dry pledging – or require that no one pledging the sorority or fraternity can drink during pledging. However, some Greek organizations force alcohol upon pledges as part of the pledging process. Sororities will often have their pledges buy expensive jewelry and either gift it or throw it away, proving their monetary worth.

Horror stories from those who pledged sororities can be particularly vicious. While fraternity hazing can be dangerous or harmful to the body, girls take it to the extreme with the mental hazing. Many different schools claim to have some sort of body shaming where the women within the organization will circle or highlight the parts of the body that the pledges need to work on to be members of the organization. There are also reports of women and men performing embarrassing sexual acts in front of their sisters or brothers. Alexandra Robbins, author of the book Pledged, echoed the sentiment of emotional harm. “I’ve talked to thirty-somethings who are still haunted by their sorority hazing,” the popular author explains.

Many schools are cracking down on hazing and punishing fraternities and sororities that are even accused of hazing.

Partying

Partying, drinking, and staying out late will probably always be a part of college, whether Greek life exists on campus or it doesn’t. Sororities and fraternities seem to get the blame for a lot of on-campus partying, but the reality of it is that if a campus has any sort of group, they will get together to drink. It doesn’t matter if it Sigma Alpha Epsilon, cafeteria workers, theatre students, or the school newspaper – it will happen.

However, there are problems within the partying scene in Greek culture particularly. Many of the theme parties that fraternities and sororities are famous for are not in the best of taste. A college recently even sent out a letter to the Greek organizations to remind them to be appropriate and tasteful during Halloween events. In 2013, a Duke fraternity, Kappa Sigma, held an “Asian Prime” themed party where they dressed in Asian-inspired clothing and spoke in accents throughout the night. While other students were outraged, the college seemed to remain passive: “The event was thoughtless and offensive but we’re not sure if it actually broke any rules,” Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, told the Herald-Sun. Other problematic themes have included a “Thug Party” at Arizona State, “USA v. Mexico” at Randolph Macon,  “Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos” at California Polytechnic State, and “Bloods and Crips” at Dartmouth.

The simple truth may be that part of the Greek stereotype encourages people to think this about fellow classmates. Even if a party isn’t a sorority or fraternity, if one person is there who is a member of the organization or wearing letters, it is automatically dubbed a sorority or fraternity party. However, Greek organizations also have a responsibility to each other and the organization as a whole to use discretion and appropriate themes when planning and participating in events.

Sexual Assault

The news has been aflutter with case after case after case against fraternities accused of gang rape, violence, and sexual assault. Is it just a coincidence that the highly publicized cases are all fraternity members? Could be — but the truth remains that one in four college women will be sexually assaulted. Something is going wrong on college campuses. A story from Rolling Stone emerged last week about a woman at the University of Virginia who says she was gang-raped at a fraternity party her freshman year. Regardless of the specifics of the crime, it’s clear the university mishandled her sexual assault complaint.

Too often, colleges will mishandle any and all rape or sexual assault complaints from their students. A young girl was raped during an athletic weekend with the University of California, and it was swept under the rug by college officials to protect the integrity of the athletic department. These are just publicized cases, how many girls are being assaulted and not reporting it? How many girls are being told there’s nothing the school can do? Sixty-two percent of sexual assault at the collegiate level is drug assisted, so there are at least two crimes happening: the purchasing of drugs and rape.

Case Study: Clemson

Recently, a Clemson University student, Tucker Hipps, fell to his death from a bridge while running with his fraternity brothers. The college suspended all fraternities, citing reports of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, and general neglect. However, they didn’t tie the ban to the death of the student.

Clemson student affairs vice president Gail DiSabatino said in a statement:

“It is especially prudent to suspend fraternity activities given the tragic death of Tucker Hipps. There has been a high number of reports of serious incidents involving fraternity activities, ranging from alcohol-related medical emergencies to sexual misconduct … These behaviors are unacceptable and mandate swift and effective action to protect students. There is no higher priority than the safety and welfare of our students.”

Police haven’t connected his death to hazing or drinking, but there is still an investigation pending on the incident. The national Sigma Phi Epsilon organization released a statement saying that if foul play was involved in Hipps’ death, it would make sure those responsible are brought to justice and face proper repercussions.

Case Study: University of Virginia

The University of Virginia just suspended all fraternity activities, stemming from accusations in a Rolling Stone article that stated the Charlottesville campus failed to protect students from sexual abuse in the Greek system in 2012. According to the magazine report, a young woman was attacked by several members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. She was sexually assaulted for hours and sodomized with a beer bottle at the fraternity house. The victim had repeated meetings with campus officials, including the President and the Dean, but the campus did not take any steps. Two other women also had accused Phi Kappa Psi members of sexually assaulting them.

The school is currently investigating, as it could result in it losing its Title IX funding.

In Defense of Greek Life

Greek organizations do have a purpose on some college campuses. They serve to unite large groups of college students in a positive way. Students who are involved in Greek life are more likely to stay at a college than those who do not. Colleges with Greek life are more likely to see active participation in many other college events, including Homecoming and spirit week festivities. For those in academic Greek or service Greek, they make positive impacts on various areas of the school’s cultural landscape.

Those who participate in Greek life are also more likely to keep in contact with their college friends and return to the campus. According to Psychology Today: “for some people, memories from the Greek years appear to have a special significance, even influencing behavior decades later. In his book, Beer and Circus about Three A’s of University Life (academics, athletics, and alcohol), Murray Sperber writes about fraternity alumni seeking a little cross-generational bonding with current members through sharing memories of alcohol mayhem. “‘The main storytellers are often alumni, and they frequently gather in their old fraternity houses to narrate the tales and, on occasion, to try to relive them.’”

Greek life, despite its issues, does often have a place — it can help those who aren’t sure of their place in college find a home and a family. Amy Hansen sums it up best: “Sororities and fraternities teach young people to be strong, to be curious, to be brave, to be zestful. Their rituals aren’t just words whispered in a dingy basement. They are living, breathing actions during collegiate life and beyond.”

Conclusion

Some colleges don’t benefit from Greek organizations. If the college is too small, it definitely can seem like an “us v. them” situation. However, a large part of whether or not a college should have a Greek system depends on the actual organizations themselves. How the members treat each other, other students, and members of other organizations creates that atmosphere.

Aspects of Greek life certainly have problems, and there are many controversial situations with which Greek life organizations have to deal. However, there are tangible benefits from having the organizations on campus as well–schools need to encourage the organizations to find that balance themselves.

Resources

College Candy: Biggest Lies About Sorority Life

Business Insider: Don’t Ban Fraternities

Huffington Post: Greek Life Faces Crackdown at USC After Alcohol-Related Injuries

Colonnade: Greek Life, Myths, Truths Revealed

Cosmopolitan: The 13 Most Nightmarish Tales of Sorority Hazing

The Bottom Line: Cons of Greek Life

USA Today: Examining the Benefits of Greek Life

AJC: Fraternities Under Fire: Is it Time to Ban Fraternities?

Psychology Today: How Fraternities and Sororities Impact Students (Or Do They?)

Peterson’s: Should Your College Life Include Greek Life?

Fastweb: To Pledge or Not to Pledge

College Express: 10 Colleges That Get Greek Life Right

Editor’s Note: This post has been revised to credit select information to Psychology Today. 

Noel Diem

Law Street contributor Noel Diem is an editor and aspiring author based in Reading, Pennsylvania. She is an alum of Albright College where she studied English and Secondary Education. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, theater, fashion, and literature. Contact Noel at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Does Greek Life Serve a Purpose on Today’s College Campus? appeared first on Law Street.

American University has a problem. Well, more specifically a small group of young men at AU have a problem. The “brothers” of Epsilon Iota, an apparent underground fraternity at the DC University, were outed in a major way recently when about 70 pages of their private emails, texts, and other communications leaked online. And trust me, it’s not good.

It’s important to note that this fraternity is neither recognized by the University, nor by any national chapter. In 2001, when they operated under the national organization of Alpha Tau Omega, they had their charter yanked due to hazing and underage drinking allegations. Instead of working with both institutions to regain their status, they continued to operate as an underground organization.

About two months ago, The Atlantic published an expose called “The Dark Power of Fraternities.” It’s an incredibly interesting read, and it focuses mainly on who is liable when things go wrong at fraternity parties. It has a lot to do with communication between the chapter and the national organization, but that article, in conjunction with this recent event does beg the question: What happens when there’s no accountability to the University or to a national organization?

So here are three things about this leak that are incredibly problematic, and what they can tell us about the concerning world of undergrad frats as a whole.

3. These emails indicate a coverup of some pretty awful behavior. 

Much of the conversation between these “frat” brothers involves an incident where a brother may or may not have hit a girl who was attending one of their parties. The guys seems to have a few goals. A very, very small percentage appear to want to figure out exactly what happened. The rest oscillate between blaming the girl, downplaying the abuse, and figuring out how to make sure that, “b*tches will still go to our parties.” Even the one brother who makes sure to emphasize that one should never hit a woman goes on to say that the priority needs to be formulating an excuse.

Abusive culture aside, there are just a lot of problems here. Because this is an underground organization, the actions that this young woman — who was probably abused in some fashion — could take were incredibly limited. She could bring suit at the University against the individual who hurt her, but given that this organization has absolutely no legal standing within the school, there’s not much they can do. There’s nothing preventing me and my friends from getting together and calling ourselves whatever we please as a club, and the school can’t do anything to stop that. And I’m not necessarily saying they should be able to — that’s my right in this country. What I am saying is that because this underground frat as a whole has no need to worry about getting in trouble with the school, they worry about things like “getting b*tches to still come to our parties,” without recognizing the consequences of their actions.

2. If it wasn’t for these emails, could anyone ever prove that the organization exists?

That brings us to our next point, and that’s one of accountability. These emails were leaked by someone who evidently got access to EI’s listserv — possibly a former brother, or someone who got a brother’s password, or whatever. But without these emails that do name some of the members, would this underground frat ever have been caught? It’s obviously operated for more than ten years, and has done an excellent job of never really having enough problems to shut it down entirely.

And what, exactly, can the University do about it? The University can maybe expel the students who said particularly inflammatory stuff, but unless they find every single one of these guys, the population will still exist on campus. They can still recruit new members if they want. The only thing the University can hope to do is catch enough members that staying involved seems to be too big a risk for those who remain. It s a gutsy move on the group’s part to remain unaffiliated from the University and from the national chapter — after all being affiliated with both of those institutions gives you legitimacy, money, and prestige. But they’ve done just fine, and I bet that they’ll keep doing just fine. And that’s a concerning notion to consider — that what this fraternity has been not only viable, but rather successful for the last decade.

1. These emails are really a perfectly horrifying example of campus rape culture. 

Here’s the really big problem with these emails, the part that elevates my internal yelling to full out banshee-like external screaming. I don’t even know where to start, partly because some of these are too disgusting to put on this website, and partly because there are just too many examples. This group consistently says overtly disgusting things about the women they interact with. These are, I swear to god, some of the more benign examples:

• “Get the b*tches in the right state of intoxication so the plows will be raining all over the place.” Great. Getting girls too drunk to consent. That’s not a gigantic, Texas-sized red flag. 
• “If your [sic] trying to get laid tonight bro don’t go with the Asians. They’re hit or miss. You gotta go straight w**re.” Racism and sexism. Charming. 
• “She had a friend who got raped at our house? I would like to meet this lying c*** and show her how african men treat their woman [sic].” I can’t even dignify this one with a comment. 

Believe me when I say that these are the mild selections from these emails. They constantly use disgusting, derogatory language to refer to women. Now, obviously they thought these emails would never get out, but it’s not just about a few people saying really dumb and gross stuff in private — it’s about the culture that this creates and propagates within this secret frat. Because this kind of language, this kind of culture, mixed with the lack of accountability and ability to be secretive is a veritable perfect storm.

—

Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Nejmlez via Wikipedia]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post American University Has a Serious Secret Frat Problem appeared first on Law Street.

It seems like every week we see a new headline about an incredibly insensitive theme party — usually involving a college Greek Life chapter. One of the greatest hits includes this incredibly racist “Mexican Party” by the lovely ladies of Chi Omega at Penn State University.

Or one of my personal favorites, this Duke University Kappa Sigma party. It was first called “Asia Prime,” but then got changed to “International Relations.”

I have good news though: racist fun isn’t just limited to Greek Life members! Check out this picture from a UConn Law School MLK Day Party dubbed “Bullets and Bubbly” back in in 2007.

These are by no means isolated incidents. When I googled “racist party” for this article, there were dozens of examples from which to choose. This is a rampant problem, no doubt, and every time a new incident makes it to the national press, I join the legion of outraged observers.

Then I stumbled across a Buzzfeed article yesterday called, “This is what American Parties Look Like Around the World.” Apparently American parties are a thing in other countries. They feature red solo cups, American Flags, popcorn, sports jerseys, and backwards hats. With a few exceptions, all pretty accurate and innocuous stereotypes. Well, except for the popcorn thing. I don’t get that. Do other places not have popcorn???

Here’s another one. They seem to like our solo cups, but I don’t think they’re using them correctly:

I found the Buzzfeed piece to be entertaining and charming. Most of the “American” stereotypes were funny. With the exception of a couple military references, nothing else, at least to me, was offensive. And then I scrolled down to the comments. Most people seemed to agree with me. They applauded the parties, and left comments about how the stereotypes are kind of accurate. A few others offered rather defensive explanations about why we use red Solo cups.

And then there were some commenters who were really offended. Some posed questions about how those same countries would feel if we poked a little fun at them. And one commenter really interested me, because he compared these parties to the very offensive ones I discussed above.

So that got me thinking, why am I so offended by Mexican, Asian, and MLK Day parties, but not really at all by the “American Parties?” And the reason is that these are apples and oranges; they are unequivocally, hugely different. And here are three reasons why:

3. We need to look at the context. 

At no point has the culture of the United States been the butt of offensive and destructive stereotypes. Part of this has to do with the relatively short history of our nation, or maybe our status for many years as a superpower. But with the very limited exception of perhaps political prisoners or POWs, I cannot think of a single instance in which an American has had his or her rights taken away simply for being American. Sure, we occasionally face prejudice or suspicion when we travel to other countries, and there are parts of this world that are not very safe for American travelers. But at no point has our culture been used to disenfranchise us.

That’s one of the main things that sets this party apart from the offensive parties above. Sure, the symbols at the “American Parties” are poking fun at us, but that’s all. I think you’d be hard pressed to see an American genuinely disenfranchised because he’s wearing a cowboy hat. That’s just not true with the symbols — sombreros, ponchos, and others — used by the girls at the Mexican Party.

2. The symbols they chose are pretty mild and pulled from pop culture. 

Red Solo cups? Basketball jerseys? Popcorn? Those aren’t historically important and engrained parts of American culture. In fact, all three of those things are relatively recent phenomenons. Fifty years from now, I bet we won’t even be using red Solo cups because we’ll have found a much more efficient and climate-friendly alternative. Contrast that with the clothing of the girls at Duke’s Asian-themed party. Those are historically-loaded garments. They have important cultural significance. Red Solo Cups, in the long run, do not. We have a silly song about them, for God’s sake. Go ahead and mock, world.

1. There’s no issue of race or culture.  

The U.S. is a melting pot. We don’t have historical clothing, one distinct religion, or defining racial characteristics. And that’s part of what makes this country great. I guess you could say that it’s also what makes us pretty hard to make fun of on a deeply offensive level.

But it’s possible. We do have symbols that are deeply ingrained in this culture, for example, the American flag. If one of these “American Parties” had cut up or degraded our flag in some way, I would probably be offended. Some of these parties do feature the American flag, but on a wall, the same way it would be in the U.S.. But that’s not what they’re doing. They’re not attacking us for the way we genetically look. They’re not making fun of the beliefs that we harbor, or historical events in our history. These parties are full of stereotypes that don’t put us down as people.

It’s doable to have a party about a nation that isn’t offensive, even if it is in jest. For example, I once attended a French-themed birthday party. It featured French refreshments, large pictures of the Eiffel Tower, and I believe we all said “c’est la vie?” and “voulez-vous couchez avec moi?” many a time. I see these “American Parties” in the same vein.

I’m not encouraging stereotyping, I’m not encouraging people to poke fun at Americans, but I think it’s important to point out that there is a real and concrete difference between malicious and innocuous stereotypes. Those first three parties, they crossed the line. Look at the girls in the first picture. In case you didn’t notice, one is holding a sign that says, “Will mow lawn for weed and beer” while adorned in a poncho and fake mustache. That’s a harmful stereotype, because it’s exactly that kind that propagates racism and prejudice in our country today.

On the other hand, this spread, from an “American Party” just looks delicious.

—

Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [hobvias sudoneighm via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Stop Calling Blatantly Racist College Bashes “Theme Parties” appeared first on Law Street.