I am in a fraternity here at Wash U. I am not an alcoholic. I don’t beat women. I don’t spank pledges with a paddle in hopes of hearing “Thank you sir, may I have another?”
For many people on campus, these statements may come as a surprise. For some unclear reason, recently with Josh Trein’s article in this paper followed with a letter from a Sigma Chi alumnus, anti-fraternity feeling on this campus continues to be high. Sparked by the situation at the end of last year concerning Sigma Chi, the “frats are bad” viewpoint seems to be more popular than ever.
Since criticism of frats seems to be an enjoyable and important topic for many, I would like to ask for some reflection first. How do you act with your friends? Do you sit around every weekend, sipping port while conversing on the state of the economy in Thailand? Or do you go out and try to have a good time and party, sucking down High Life Light at a party and then maybe going to a late night Bear’s Den run?
The majority of students on this campus (despite the social norming campaign’s efforts) go out on weekends and drink at parties. Fraternities are not responsible for these decisions, and calling this behavior the fault of fraternities attributes problems to an effect rather than a direct cause.
The goal of a frat party, from the perspective of the brothers, is, plain and simple, to get people to come. Attendance is the priority, everything else is secondary. So all decisions about the party are made according to what brothers think people will want, such as alcohol.
Nobody makes people come to fraternities, just like nobody makes students drink on the weekends. Blaming fraternities for drinking and other problems is like blaming the fast food industry for making people fat. It minimizes personal responsibility and real problems and attacks a known institution that can easily be faulted.
I do not want to spend too much time dissecting Trein’s blurb, since I think that anyone reasonable would take what he wrote seriously. However, I would like to respond to his article directly, just for clarification. Trein claims that fraternities “sexually demean… its own members and every single woman ever born.” I have yet to see anyone in my fraternity sexually demean any other member, just as I do not see my brothers sexually demean women (although Trein’s exaggeration does suggest that he knows he needs to exaggerate to seem like he has a point).
The issue of sexism is a touchy one, and cannot fully be explored in this forum. However, blaming fraternities for sexism and condemning then because innuendos are sometimes used as tag lines for parties comes from the same way of thinking that blames frats for drinking. Trein’s arguments are nothing but accusations against fraternities along with faulty reasoning and a misuse of cause and effect. Sexism does not begin with nor does it happen exclusively at fraternities. If there is problematic behavior, it is because it exists on campus, not because fraternities made it happen.
I also think that many people on this campus have misinterpreted what fraternities are primarily about. Fraternities are about brotherhood and tradition. I don’t think anyone disagrees with the concept of brotherhood as a whole, since, I assume, most people have friends, and the traditions, frankly, are nobody’s business but the brothers of that fraternity.
I guarantee that none of us are having satanic rituals with lamb’s blood in our basement (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But still, this school’s administration and this very paper seem to enjoy attacking and aggressively policing the fraternities on this campus.
I would just like to remind everyone of the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. Please stay out of my house, because I don’t go walking around yours.