As a senior, I’ve watched campus change from my Zoom-filled first semester to in-person exams, packed cultural shows, and bikes almost running over the now-packed pathways on campus. These changes have become a part of a living memory for WashU seniors. But what exists within this collective memory extends beyond a return to in-person learning, encompassing events that have shaped our perceptions of WashU institutions. 

As graduation looms, I wonder, with worry, what knowledge will fade into WashU history — knowledge that must be kept alive and continuously discussed for the goal of an informed, safer, and better campus community. As spring rush begins, we must remember the stories shared in the summer of 2020 about the long-lasting existence of racism and sexual violence within Greek Life. 

In July 2020, Black sorority members shared experiences of racism within WashU sororities, such as racist slurs used by a sorority member during which non-Black members said nothing. This event led to other current or former members of Greek Life sharing their experiences with racism as well as stories of sexual violence, homophobia, and socioeconomic exclusion. By late September of 2020, over half of fraternity and sorority members had deactivated from their organizations.

These events also brought to the forefront of campus conversation the larger systemic factors at play within Greek Life at WashU and beyond. In 2020, Student Life reported on systemic racism and other structural issues in Greek Life, including various forms of exclusion — such as financial barriers — as well as lack of accountability through structures within the national organizations that were built to protect perpetrators of sexual assault in fraternities. 

Histories of harm in Greek Life at WashU pre-date 2020. A 2018 survey by the Women’s Panhellenic Association, which included responses from about half of all members of WashU sororities at the time, found significant rates of gender-based violence experienced by sorority members and perpetuated by fraternity members, as well as reports of unwanted sexual contact within every fraternity on campus. The perpetuation of sexual violence within fraternities as well as other harmful practices, such as hazing, also have longer histories at our University.

While histories of harm within Greek Life are not unique to WashU, the events and histories specific to WashU must be continually addressed, especially since newer students who may be joining Greek Life during this semester’s rush may not know this history. As time passes, our campus conversations tend to shift with the fluctuation of current events. So, as a senior worrying what campus knowledge will continue to fade into memory, I urge current students to stay informed about the history — past and recent — of Greek Life at WashU. The stories of those who experienced significant and serious harm must remain at the forefront of our collective memory.