Student Life: What are some of the biggest challenges facing women today?

Gloria Steinem: You can call it, in general, a sexual caste system. Or you can be more specific and say we’ve demonstrated—at least in this country—that women can do what men can do, but we haven’t demonstrated that men can do what women can do. Probably the largest number of women are afflicted by having two jobs, and that has many solutions. We have to stop being the only democracy in the world without nationalized child care. Men are as loving and as nurturing as women and can be equal parents. We need job patterns that allow parents to have adjustable work time. Even though we should understand that everything is connected—sex, race, class and sexuality—there is still not enough a deep enough understanding.

SL: What do you think about our current U.S. administration and its relationship to equality for women?

GS: Not allowing women to have reproductive freedom … means far more money spent to support unwanted kids. Just like it makes no sense to have abstinence-only education, with the rate of abortions, unwanted pregnancies and sexual diseases. But nonetheless, the heritage of that from the Bush administration is still with us. It hasn’t been completely defunded by the Obama administration, though I believe they’re trying. I would say we’re infinitely better off than we were during the last two administrations, but it’s still not a priority.

SL: As someone who has been highly active since the 1960s, how far do you think we have come?

GS: We’ve been through enough consciousness-raising, people telling the truth about their lives, work through legislation. We now have legal tools and ways of organizing we didn’t have before. If it took a century to get legal identity as human beings for women of all races and men of color in the abolitionist suffragist era, and now we’re striving for legal equality, I would say we are 30 or 40 years into a century.

SL: Some critics associate today’s high divorce rates with the feminist movement and the rise in women who pursue careers. What do you make of this?

GS: People have always said feminism is the cause of divorce, but actually marriage is the cause of divorce. People are often made to think they have to get married and don’t necessarily get married out of true feelings of shared values and partnership. Another factor is age. Margaret Mead always said marriage worked better in the 19th century, because people only lived to be 50. To expect marriage to last to 85 is quite different from expecting it to last to 50. And there are just more choices for people. If those folks are so into marriage, let them support marriage equality for two men and two women.

SL: What would you say to young women who feel like they have to make the choice between a career and marriage or children?

GS: They have a right to ask why young men are not being asked to make the same choice. Men are wonderful parents too, so why aren’t they expected to make the same choice? And why are we the only democracy in the world with no national system of child care, no real national policy on adjustable work patterns for the parents of young children. We’re way, way, way behind other countries. I would say to those young women: You have the right to get angry. You’re not given the choice of doing both, which both parents deserve—male or female.

SL: What is the role of men in that democracy?

GS: Being a human being. We’ve had millennia upon millennia of heredity and environment combined in each of us in a unique way that could never have happened before and could never happen again. Our differences are to be respected; they are a part of us. But it’s just one of the billion things that make us who we are.

SL: What are some of the most pivotal moments in your life so far that influenced your career and advocacy work?

GS: It was probably helpful in retrospect that I didn’t go to school very much until I was about 12, because I probably missed a kind of Dick and Jane brainwashing. However, the teenage years came and they came with all kinds of ideas about gender, so it happened to me, too.

My mother was a very talented woman and a pioneering journalist who had given up her profession before I was born, but I think I saw that as wasted talent. Also, my father was very loving and nurturing, so I grew up knowing men can be loving and nurturing. I was lucky.

After college at Smith, I went to live in India for a few years. I had no idea we were such an exception in the world economically. There had been a big women’s movement as part of the independence movement, subsumed by Gandhi.

SL: What does feminism mean for you?

GS: It’s what it says in the dictionary. It’s the belief in the full economic, social and political equality of females and males. Because [sex] is the most pervasive form of caste across class and across race, it becomes the model for class and race. If you grew up in a household where you were taught it’s OK to treat people differently based on birth, it makes racism more OK and it makes classism more OK. If we’re ever going to make a real democracy, we need democratic families.

Sam Guzik | Student Life

Members of the community participate in the Undy 5000 to promote awareness of colorectal cancer.

Some ran. Some walked. But almost everyone was wearing boxers, undies or brightly decorated shorts.

This was the peculiar sight that greeted passersby on Saturday morning in Forest Park, where the local Gateway chapter of the Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA) hosted its second annual St. Louis Undy 5000 (5K) event to promote awareness and raise money for the cause of colorectal cancer.

The CCA is the oldest and largest national organization that advocates for patients through patient support, public education, promoting early screening and funding colorectal cancer research.

Partnering with the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Washington University School of Medicine, the Gateway chapter organized this year’s 5K with the goal of raising $100,000.

As of Friday, the organization’s Web site had reported an amount of $45,273.34 raised so far. Will this amount reach the chapter’s goal by the week’s end?

“We hope so,” said Victoria Anwuri, project manager of Siteman’s Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities. “Our goal is to best last year.”

Anwuri, who played a large role in coordinating this year’s efforts, also sits as vice chairperson on the board of the CCA Gateway chapter.

More participants were expected to register on the day of the race, and donations came from the event’s local and national sponsors as well, according to Anwuri.

Aside from Barnes-Jewish and the Washington University medical school, the Undy 5000 was also sponsored by Glacéau Vitaminwater.

“We’ve been working to plan the event for a good three to five months, but heavily for three months,” Anwuri said. “Part of that is creating a relationship with the Siteman Cancer Center to be a local sponsor for the event, which entails some soft money through media relations.”

Siteman sponsored the 5K at a bronze level equivalent to $12,000.

The event was also publicized through the center’s Web site as well as KSDK-TV Channel 5.

“Their sponsorship allows us to work with local media contacts to get the word out and also create awareness at the university level,” Anwuri said.

The cause drew a large crowd on Saturday. Despite the chilly morning, cars and participating teams packed the Upper Muny parking lot, where the race officially began.

The group was also an eclectic one, with serious runners, serious walkers, U.S. Marines, young children, fathers pushing strollers and dogs on leashes.

On stage, a lively announcer dressed in a cape chirped words of encouragement into a microphone throughout the entire race.

Navy-blue cotton boxers printed with the emblems of the CCA and sponsors came with registration, but most teams decided to design shorts and special attire of their own. Some sported brightly decorated team gear, Hawaiian shirts or superhero capes. Even some dogs showed up in team boxers, though perhaps not by their choice.

“It’s just a wonderful event to raise awareness about colon cancer, because there is a perception that colon cancer only affects people at a later age,” said Alissa White, a Gateway chapter board member who is in charge of education and outreach.

White, who is a colon cancer survivor herself, said the organization hopes the 5K will promote preventive screening and support research so that more patients can avoid the suffering brought on by the cancer and its treatment process.

Anwuri echoed White’s comment and stressed the importance of raising awareness about colon cancer as a community issue.

“There are many disparities with colon cancer in mortality and death rates,” she said. “Through this effort, we hope to encourage people to be screened, promote research and other programs to support colon cancer patients.”

In last year’s Undy 5000, 1,300 participants registered, and 700 of those showed up for the actual race.

“We were really shocked about that, especially with the weather last year,” Anwuri said. It was rainy and cold, but people still came out.”

Proceeds from the Undy 5000 will go toward funding local education, research efforts and screening programs.

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, however, often brings patients to a complete recovery.

Sam Guzik | Student Life

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Before performing on campus Thursday afternoon, Matisyahu chatted with students in the DUC courtyard.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

In an acoustic session in Graham Chapel, the musician performed with guitarist and WU alum Adam Weinberg. He also answered the audience’s questions in a lively question-and-answer session.

With his hands resting on his legs while sitting onstage in a high-set chair, Matisyahu commanded his quietly captivated listeners Thursday with the performance of three serenely delivered acoustic songs in a blend of words, hums, beatboxing and other sounds.

At times his legs were slightly crossed, rocking to the rhythm; his hands may have moved to grasp the edge of his seat. But one thing remained constant: He kept his eyes closed throughout the performance.

He was accompanied on guitar by Adam Weinberg, the Washington University graduate who first introduced the campus to the Jewish artist more than six years ago.

The first song he performed on Thursday does not appear on any album and is inspired by the Jewish day of observance called Tisha B’Av, commemorating the fall of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem.

That the song’s religious context likely escaped most of the listeners who filled Graham Chapel did not prevent them from appreciating Matisyahu’s music.

“Matisyahu is an artist I respect for his integration of his personal values and talent in the mainstream industry,” sophomore Anthonia Ojo said. “His songs have great lyrics, and even though they come from his religion, they can be applied to everybody.”

Ojo’s comment points to a universal quality that many have come to attach to Matisyahu’s music.

“Some of the music is clearly based on biblical or Hasidic liturgy or values, but he has the unique ability to translate that into substantive messages that resonate with a large population of areligious people,” said Hershey Novack, rabbi for Chabad on Campus. “Even as a cultural interpreter, he is unique and successful.”

Assaf Shelleg, a visiting Israeli scholar in the Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies program, also finds Matisyahu’s image unique. Shelleg provided the program’s introduction.

“Seeing him creates some sort of cognitive dissonance, because you don’t expect such an image performing this type of music,” he said.

According to Shelleg, Matisyahu is well received among religious communities in Israel—especially younger generations.

“It gives them the legitimacy of listening to something very modern and is not limited by something that they know is Jewish from the music their parents heard,” he said. “It breaches something in Judaism and kosherizes the fact that we can listen to Jamaican music or hip-hop music with kosher texts.”

Though Matisyahu is an artist with widespread international appeal, students in the audience still found him personable and took the opportunity to ask him questions during the question-and-answer part of the program.

When asked if he has ever struggled with his beliefs, Matisyahu replied, “I struggle with believing in God, because God, honestly, is invisible. It’s kind of like having a relationship with an invisible friend.”

One student also asked about his past experiences with using acid, amid much laughter from the rest of the audience. Matisyahu seemed to share their humor and told stories of his high school days and experimentation with psychedelic drugs.

“The first time I did mushrooms with my friends was 16,” he said. “I remember one experience when we were lying on this field and looking up at the sky, and I remember all of a sudden everything feeling really clear, lucid. I think it depends on the person. For me, it changed a lot of things.”

But he also pointed out the less-pleasant experiences that can come with drug experimentation, to which the student responded with a “yeah.”

“You know, obviously,” Matisyahu joked.

The atmosphere ranged from the more serious to the jovial, which surprised some students like Ojo.

“I did not expect him to have such a great sense of humor and great stories,” she said. “During his question and answer session, he was very open and honest, which I really respected and loved.”

Sophomore Josh Yudkin echoed Ojo’s impression of Matisyahu’s honesty.

“I thought it was really good,” he said. “I found it to be a very candid but…provoking performance and talk,” he said.

For Novack, Matisyahu is an example of an individual who is able to bridge religious and cultural barriers and bring people together.

“Some of his songs resonate deeply with me,” Novack said. “I think his music is incredibly potent and has a very positive effect on many, many people. That is something that can never be taken away from him.”

Check out video of his appearance here.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

The campus groups co-hosting the reggae, rock and hip hop-fusion American Hasidic Jewish artist Matisyahu also reserved May Auditorium in the Olin Business School as an overflow seating area. This, along with the appropriately all-capped Facebook event name, underscores one thing—Matisyahu’s performance will be no small deal for Washington University.

But what most students do not know is that this will be the 30-year-old Grammy nominee’s third show on campus.

University alum stumbles upon musical gold

The story begins in 2003, when University alum Adam Weinberg, then between his undergraduate and graduate school years, saw his friend’s band perform at a Jewish community center in New York City. Opening for the band was a young man called Matthew Paul Miller, a little-known local artist who went by his Hebrew name of Matisyahu.

“I saw him perform and it was pretty raw,” Weinberg said. “I saw him performing for 20 minutes. He kind of blew me away.”

Back in St. Louis, Weinberg, with his connection to Matisyahu’s manager at the time and the support from various campus groups such as KWUR, helped orchestrate Matisyahu’s performance in the Gargoyle.

“It was totally mind-boggling. We hosted a show and we had nothing to really go on—no one really knew him,” said Weinberg, chuckling as he recalled the first concert. “We had painted the whole Underpass ‘reggae night’ or something. We also blasted his music all day in Mallinckrodt and people were really into it. They didn’t know what to expect.”

To top it off, Weinberg, a jazz performance minor, ended up playing backup in the show when the rest of the band could not make it because of flight delays.

“It was interesting, because I didn’t really know the music,” he said. “His drummer kind of called the shots. Fortunately, it was December and Shabbat ended earlier, so we had some time to listen to the record.”

Though it would take months before Matisyahu released his first album and a year before he hit number one on the charts, Weinberg already knew: “There was no doubt in my mind he was going to be huge.”

In March 2004, Weinberg invited Matisyahu back to the Gargoyle for a second show.

Third time running

Since 2003, the two have developed a bond of both friendship and musical collaboration.

Weinberg now works for Gelb Promotions Inc., an agency that produces for and promotes big-name artists like Andrea Bocelli and Itzhak Perlman. In addition to promoting many of Matisyahu’s non-tour-related events, he also continues to accompany him in some performances—including Thursday’s program.

The main event, which begins at 4 p.m., will feature Matisyahu’s acoustic performance and a discussion of his musical style, his latest album “Light” and his development as an artist, followed by a question-and-answer session.

The arrangement is meant to generate a more interactive and “coffee-house” atmosphere, according to senior Sam Guzik, the president of the Jewish Student Union (JSU).

“[The setting] is less academic and more of a chance for students and community members to really interact with him,” Guzik said. “It’ll probably be pretty free-flowing; we’re going to be taking cues from him.”

Prior to the main event, students will have an opportunity to meet and talk with Matisyahu in an informal open reception in the Danforth University Center Courtyard from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m.

As a bigger picture, Guzik believes Matisyahu’s program will present a distinctive experience and perspective in the University’s Assembly Series.

“This is really an opportunity to bring in someone really recognized around campus, but even more so, to do with the Assembly Series something really creative, something that hasn’t been done in the past,” he said.

There is little doubt in the community that Matisyahu fits the bill for originality.

“The notion of religious people playing music is certainly nothing new,” said Hershey Novack, rabbi for Chabad on Campus. “But he is an example of someone who lives in two separate worlds: He is both a practicing Hasid and he is also a very legitimate musical performer. That’s unique.”

Novack also played a part in Matisyahu’s 2003 and 2004 campus performances.

“He was a talented person back then—no doubt,” Novack said. “He certainly matured as a performing artist over the past five or six years, but he was very, very talented. I think his music is incredibly potent and has a very positive effect on many, many people.”

“That is something that can never be taken away from him,” he added.

The Jewish Student Union, Assembly Series, St. Louis Hillel at Washington University, Student Union, Congress of the South 40, Chabad Student Association and Congregation B’nai Amoonah, a local synagogue, are jointly sponsoring the program.

Doors to the main event will open at 3:30 p.m.

Editor’s note: Sam Guzik is the director of new media for Student Life.

(Johann Qua Hiansen | Student Life)

To the unknowing passerby, the rowdy scene in McMillan Café on Wednesday evening might have resembled an unrehearsed, B-rated drag show.

But the seven young men strutting around in dresses were no drag queens—they were contestants in the Mr. Engineering Pageant (EnPageant).

Hosted by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Washington University, the “beauty” pageant is part of Engineering Week (EnWeek) and the larger efforts of engineering student groups to promote their field and show the entire student body that engineers really do know how to have a good time.

EnCouncil, the student governing body of the engineering school, coordinates EnWeek.

“I think [EnPageant] represents the spirit of engineering and that our students will get out there and have fun,” said Melanie Osborn, assistant dean in the engineering school and one of the pageant’s five judges.

And there was plenty of fun to go around Wednesday night as the seven male students—each representing a different department in the engineering school—danced to pop songs, paraded in the pageant’s “evening gown” portion and wooed the crowd with their eclectic collection of talents.

Fifth-year senior Sam Wight, or “Mr. Mechanical Engineering,” showed off his aptitude as an impromptu haiku writer.

The subject of his haikus? Mechanical engineering courses yelled out from the audience.

Mr. Chemical Engineering, junior TJ Pepping, used principles of gas expansion to fit an egg through the narrow opening of a bottle. Meanwhile, junior CJ Carey—Mr. Computer Science—counted to 31 in binary with one hand.

Prior to the talents portion of the evening, the contestants performed a semi-coordinated dance routine to the Spice Girls hit “Spice Up Your Life.”

“I noticed during the dance, Jeremy, that you weren’t wearing any underwear,” Associate Dean Chris Kroeger, another one of the five judges, said to Mr. Electrical Engineering amid laughter from the audience.

The pageant also included an interview portion, in which the contestants answered different questions from the judges.

In the end, Carey, or Mr. Computer Science, clinched the pageant’s grand title.

Could there have been bias, especially since Bill Smart, associate professor of computer science and engineering, was on the panel of judges?

“Absolutely! Total bias,” Kroeger said.

Smart agreed. The self-proclaimed “Simon Cowell” of the judging panel joked before the pageant, “I can tell you right now—CJ is going to do very well.”

Emceed by engineering school seniors Dan Brewster and Sydnie Lieb and sophomore Katie Disterhoft, the pageant had a great turnout.

“We had more people than we initially anticipated,” said Lieb, SWE president. Everything went really well. The contestants, audience and judges all had a really good time, and that was our main goal.”

Brewster, president of EnCouncil, said that he predicted that EnPageant would be one of the more popular events this year, and that the good turnout fits well into the purpose of EnWeek.

“We’re increasing our visibility to other students,” Brewster said. “Our audience is not just engineers but students across the entire school. It’s a good opportunity, and we want people to come out.

According to Lieb, the male beauty pageant had been an event in previous EnWeeks, though not since the 1990s. This year, SWE decided to bring it back—but with its own spin.

“When they were doing it, they had boxer-shorts and tights. We thought it would be more fun to do drag,” she said.

For Lieb, EnPageant was a perfect event for showcasing the excitement of engineering during EnWeek.

“EnWeek is about being really exciting to be in engineering, being really spirited,” she said. “The idea [of EnPageant] was to do an event with all the different schools within engineering together and have a great time.”

Aside from the pageant, EnWeek featured events such as a Nerf gun capture the flag competition in Lopata Hall, a paper plane competition, a “Super Smash Bros.” tournament, EnWeek student breakfast, and various panels focusing on research and career opportunities for engineering students.

EnWeek, which began on Sunday, will continue through Saturday.

Friday, students can enjoy a field trip to Monsanto Co. EnWeek will end on Saturday with Women in Engineering Day, which is also put on by SWE, Engineering Without Borders Community Service Day and a catapult competition.

Mr. Computer Science was crowned with a tiara lined with pink fuzz, and handed a bouquet of plastic flowers. The runner-up was Wright, Mr. Mechanical Engineering.

The forum, titled “Monetary Policy Amid Economic Turbulence,” was hosted by the Murray Weidenbaum Center on Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in partnership with the Department of Economics and the Undergraduate Economics Association.

Professor of Economics Steve Fazzari served as moderator for the event.

“We do live, indeed, in interesting times. A year ago we were facing the most severe financial crisis of two generations and falling into a very severe recession,” Fazzari said during the opening remarks.  “According to some people, it’s over. For other people, it still continues.”

The panel consisted of James Bullard, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; Costas Azariadis, Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences and director of the University’s Center for Dynamic Economics; Thomas Cooley, Paganelli-Bull Professor of Economics at New York University; Richard Sylla, Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets at New York University; and Joel Prakken, chairman of the economic consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers.

Addressing the recession and the Federal Reserve from a different perspective, the five speakers shed light on the current state of the economy and its potential direction in the future.

Thomas Cooley (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Thomas Cooley

-“In 2007, the credit prices that we all should have anticipated became apparent with great suddenness. The first response of monetary policy, one has to say, was best described as being in something of a state of denial about the severity of the problem.”

-“By comparison, the year 2009 has seemed relatively calm. Of course, that’s not really true, since it began with the inauguration of a new president, big debate about stimulus and the effectiveness of stimulus, the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler, the rolling out of plans of reforming the financial regulatory system, the new administration’s proposals for helping the housing sector and removing troubled assets from the balance sheets of banks—both programs which have been partially ineffective. On top of this, we have experienced the worst recession in the post-war era. It hasn’t exactly been a picnic in 2009.”

-“Eventually the Fed is going to have to drain reserves in the system, and that’s going to have repercussions elsewhere in the economy.”

-“I think the problems of monetary policy are manageable for the Fed. What to do about the size of the Fed’s balance sheet is a little bit more problematic.”

-“It’s really the case that the Federal Reserve should not be in the business of propping up particular sectors of the economy and allocating capital to that sector. That’s really the role of the Treasury, and going forward the Fed is going to have to find a way to shift their role to the Treasury where it belongs.”

Richard Sylla (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Richard Sylla

-“It’s a not a new thing that the Fed’s balance sheet doubles over time. It happened in the 1930s. It happened in the 1940s. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen from 1929 to 1933, which is why the Great Depression was as bad as it was.”

-“Financial crises are part of the capitalist system.”

-“A lot of the financial crises just had one year attached to them. But whenever financial crises seem to have more than one year attached to them, it’s probably quite a bit worse. The one we’re in now appears to have at least three years attached to it, maybe more.”

-“Nonetheless, despite all these crises, the story of U.S. economic growth over two plus centuries is a good story.”

-“There is a displacement. The pattern is then during the upswing everyone wants to. That’s the upside building up the financial crisis. Then something happens. Distress happens. And then everybody heads to the exits. This is called the leveraging regulation.

-“What is the central bank supposed to do during a financial crisis?”

On unity day in Graham Chapel, on Jan. 17, all the sororities join with their new members to celebrate being Greek. (Whitney Curtis | Wustl Photo Services)

As January ushers in a new semester, each of the seven sorority chapters at Washington University also welcomed a new member class following a weeklong recruitment process.

This year, 311 women arrived on campus a week earlier than the rest of the student body to participate in formal recruitment.

According to Lucy Morlan, coordinator for chapter development in the Greek Life Office, 274 women were initiated into a sisterhood by the end of the week. Students who had to leave due to a family emergency or withdrew during the course of the week for other reasons accounted for the difference in numbers, along with a small percentage of those who did not receive a bid.

“[274] is certainly better than what we have done in a number of years in terms of taking everybody,” Morlan said. “Definitely a high number of women received bids this year as opposed to last year.”

The total number of women who originally registered for formal recruitment this year was 325 at its peak, which is also higher than average, according to Morlan.

“Usually we have around 300 people register for recruitment, and then we have 10 or 15 that can’t come back because of weather or they get sick,” Morlan said.

Morlan attributes the increase in interest partly to the entrance of Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII), the newest addition to the University’s Greek Life system.

The chapter was colonized at the beginning of the 2009 spring semester and, since then, has only held informal recruitment sessions. This year marks its first formal recruitment.

“[AOII] definitely gave another option for people to go to. I do think it had an effect on the number of people increasing this year, because there was a different option and people were maybe a little bit more interested in that,” Morlan said.

According to senior Amanda Coppock, president of the Women’s Panhellenic Association, AOII boasted a positive and smooth experience with its first recruitment.

“It was a real success. They have an excellent new member class,” Coppock said.

Morlan echoed Coppock’s praise of AOII’s recruitment results, emphasizing the number of positive responses from both the chapter and its new members.

“With this being their first, they did extremely well with it,” Morlan said. “Everything we’ve heard from the women and the chapter has been an extremely positive experience. It was the first time they got to spend the entire week together. They really enjoyed it, and we were really happy to hear that.”

Recruitment proceeded as usual this year, save for one change. In past years, women were required to visit all the chapters on both the first and second day of recruitment. This year, they were only required to visit six of the seven chapters on the second day.

“We are working to shorten the days basically to make it convenient for everybody involved,” Morlan said. “In a bigger system like this, it helps the women get it through their mind and start thinking about, ‘This is what I want to focus on,’ instead of having two days of going to all of the chapters.This is a little bit more gradual and eases into the process of choosing which one they want.”

The change was implemented at the recommendation of the National Panhellenic Council. The new arrangement and the formal debut of AOII both contributed to the overall success of this year’s recruitment.

“This year definitely had a different feel,” Morlan said. “With AOII’s entrance, there was a real feeling between all the chapters and women of supporting them and working together. The attitude carried over the entire process, and we were constantly hearing that message of support. Everyone had a positive and amazing experience and it was a big relief to see that.”

Though the addition of a seventh chapter may have helped make the process smoother, Coppock still described the week as being “a little crazy, spirited, exciting and exhausting,” which is what the week has typically been known for.

Ames Place, the neighborhood between The Delmar Loop and Washington University’s Danforth Campus, has been the center of various complaints submitted to the University City Police Department about the behavior of students in the area. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Junior Sean Fischer, who lives near the Ames Place neighborhood between the Danforth Campus and the Delmar Loop, received a court summons three weeks ago from University City police for creating a disturbance in the neighborhood, though he denies any involvement with the incident.

Fischer said he was on bed rest from swine flu early Saturday morning when his roommate, returning from a charity gala, woke him around 1:45 a.m. to tell him the police were outside the door looking for him.

“I had gone to bed at 9 p.m. It took me two and a half hours to fall asleep,” he said. “I was really frustrated to be woken up. I had no idea what was going on. I thought I was dreaming.”

Fischer was approached by two officers and their sergeant in the hallway of his building and charged with disturbing the peace. According to Fischer, the sergeant said one officer had seen a perpetrator lighting fireworks enter the building and let in to his apartment.

Despite Fischer’s protests that he could not have been involved because he was asleep, the police presented him with the summons.

“They didn’t listen to anything I said,” he said. “They didn’t say this, but what seemed implied was they couldn’t find whoever was lighting off the fireworks, and the officer thought I had let someone in, so the blame falls on me, which doesn’t make sense. I was almost an easy scapegoat.”

Fischer’s encounter with the police comes two months after University officials’ call for a “Good Neighbor” brainstorming session between student leaders and administrators to address the mounting problem of complaints from local residents. Area residents have cited loud noises from students late at night, beer cans left on residential property, stolen signs, inappropriate drawings on cars, and other acts of misconduct.

Since the second meeting in early October, the administration has made short-term efforts and prepared more long-term ones to help increase the number of positive interactions between students and local residents.

Along with a leaf-raking charity event benefiting fallen firefighters and police two weeks ago, members of the “Good Neighbor” initiative also plan to implement future programs that would raise student awareness about their responsibilities as community inhabitants, according to Cheryl Adelstein, director of community relations and local government affairs.

Complaints against students generally go to Adelstein’s office—sometimes directly or through police reports.

“We work very closely with the U. City police. [They] take the lead as they should,” Adelstein said.

“We have a strategy and use certain protocols about what we do in certain situations.”

Fischer, however, believes the police department’s effort to respond to every noise complaint has caused some officers’ frustration.

“These officers are actually responsible for a much larger territory that has a lot more crime going on than noise complaints,” he said. “I’ve talked to some of [them,] and they say one of the most frustrating things is that they have to respond to all these calls. That frustration may or may not have been taken out on me.”

Fischer also said he is aware of other students who have had similar experiences.

“[The police] might not necessarily be giving hard evidence as to why they are writing summons for people who they assume are probably at fault,” he said.

“The overall attitude of some of these officers has been very accusatory, I would say.”

According to Captain Mike Ransom of the University City Police Detective Bureau, the police department maintains a good relationship with students and “an excellent working relationship” with the University administration.

Ransom cannot comment on Fischer’s specific case since it is still pending in court, except to say, “We have a good relationship with the students living in the area. We treat them just like any other residents of University City.”

Fischer, after consulting a lawyer, has decided to present his case at his January court summons and file a formal complaint against the officers who wrote his summons.

“What I want to get out of it is to show the U. City cops that this is ridiculous and that [they] can’t be pushing people around like this, scaring them with their badge,” he said.

Junior Andrew Bort, Zeta Beta Tau president, who resides in his fraternity house on Forsyth and was present at the “Good Neighbor” meeting, remembers one incident last year that gave him the impression the police were cracking down heavily on noise complaints.

“There were probably 30 brothers at the house,” Bort said. “We had music in the basement but nothing upstairs. [The police] came into our house and told everyone to leave. It was actually really strange.”

Bort, however, said the fraternity has improved its relationship with the police this semester “by not giving them anything to worry about.”

“We had a lot of problems last year with noise complaints,” he said. “We’ve been a lot more careful with how we run events at our house [this year]. It was just a matter of being aware of the people who live in the community.”

The Greek Life Office (GLO) took away Sigma Alpha Mu’s (SAM) house in late December following a drug bust on Dec. 8 in which the Washington University Police Department (WUPD) arrested three fraternity members, all of whom were then given alumni status by the chapter.

Under the direction of the national organization, the chapter completed a membership review. Senior Brian Grobman, the chapter’s president, said the review helped the fraternity strengthen and consolidate its sense of brotherhood.

“We were looking for a more committed active membership,” he said. “Our numbers have gone down since January, but our remaining members are more committed to being a fraternity that takes the initiative to be more active on campus and to [go] in a more proactive direction.”

The chapter currently has 21 active members, compared to approximately 50 at this time last year, with 14 new pledge candidates from the past fall recruitment—the highest number of pledges among all the fraternity chapters on campus.

Grobman and junior Sam Werboff, the chapter’s vice president, see this year’s pledge class as one of the signs that SAM remains a full, strong brotherhood.

“Even though the time has been difficult and the life of the fraternity has changed, the overall strength has never been stronger,” Werboff said. “The guys that have decided to stay with it through the tough times—it’s brought us together in a way that we’ve never seen before.”

Mike Hayes, director of the GLO and executive director of campus life, said he believes the experience has led the members to shift their focus in a more important direction.

“They now understand it is bigger than just living together,” Hayes said. “They define the whole experience differently and see the benefits of why a person would want to join a fraternity. There is a misperception out there that you have to have a house to be a fraternity, and that is just not the case.”

Grobman called the past year a “process of change,” and new commitments to the membership are part of that process.

Junior Adam Savaglio, former SAM president, devised an action plan for the chapter that includes yearly full chapter meetings with the GLO director, WUPD and Betsy Foy, the substance abuse specialist at Student Health Services, and required completion of GreekLifeEdu, an online prevention program. Chapter members are now also subject to a revised internal standard and code of conduct.

“Our biggest thing right now is having a strong sense of accountability, and all these things are here to introduce self-accountability and accountability for our brothers,” Grobman said.

Yet, despite their progress and continued efforts as a brotherhood, the chapter’s members have realized that it can be hard to shake a bad image from the past. Grobman also expressed frustration that some students are under the impression that the chapter is no longer recognized.

“People don’t seem to understand the difference between losing your house and losing your recognition,” he said. “We don’t have the house anymore, but we still have recognition from both the school and national.”

As for the chapter’s image, Grobman emphasized that the only way to change it is to focus on strengthening the chapter through its actions and sense of brotherhood.

“Overall, we can’t concern ourselves with what people say about us. At the end of the day, we can only concentrate on our own behavior, and ultimately, that will change the things people say about us,” he said. “It’s a learning experience. You can learn from it and become better and strong from it—which we did.”

Hayes also remains hopeful for the chapter’s future, saying, “I think they are ready to do what they need to do to be a good chapter.”