It’s time for Greek life to step up. Without a doubt, they have done a lot of amazing things, for a lot of amazing people. Members of Greek organizations [on my campus at least] have consistently produced higher average grades than non-Greek affiliated students.They produce leaders and motivated individuals, while providing networking opportunities through a vast pool of current and previous members. They hold their members to a high standard, pushing them to succeed professionally, academically, and socially.

There is no such thing as perfection, though, which is just as apparent in the Greek community as it is anywhere else.

I am discussing specifically though, in regards to the treatment of women.

The sad reality of the situation is that this subject is NOT glossed over. The amount of detailed information, statistics, and reports available regarding the prevalence of sexual harassment, assault, and rape in the Greek community is undeniable, so obviously the issue is not a lack of information. The issue has been, and remains to be, the utter lack of concern and willingness to fully understand the situation by Greek organizations and their members.

The conversation seems to veer off in a number of directions. Some believe women today are dressing to skimpily and go out to parties wanting it. Some believe that it doesn’t happen, or is not nearly as much of an issue as it is. Some think that the majority of it is a woman crying rape when the assault started as consensual. Even more see conversations of this sort as an attack on Greek life and ignore it all together, or fight it with the arguments of all the good Greek life does.

The ethical controversies of these opinions aside, it has already been stated by me, and others, that membership with a fraternity, or any Greek organization, have very obvious values and worth. This discussion has absolutely nothing to do with Greek life, as a whole, being some kind of plague of college campuses needing to be exterminated, although there are certainly those who think so. This is about women receiving the rightful treatment, and safety, that they deserve.

So what are the facts?

• Please keep in mind that a the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, found that “Sixty-three percent of completed rapes, 65% of attempted rapes, and 74% of completed and attempted sexual assaults against females were not reported to the police,” so these numbers may be smaller than the reality.

• “One in four college women report surviving rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime. These are anonymous reports on multi-campus surveys sampling thousands of college students nationwide.”

• “Women in sororities are 74% more likely to experience rape than other college women, and those who live in the sorority house are over three times as likely to experience rape.”

• “72-81% of cases in which a male rapes a female college student, the female is intoxicated.”

• “60% of rapes on college campuses occur with a perpetrator who is an acquaintance of the survivor. 32% are romantic partners, 8% are unknown/strangers.”

• “College men who consume alcohol two or more times a week and had friends who support physical and emotional abuse of women are nine times more likely to commit sexual assault than men with none of these characteristics.”

Information quoted from http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php

For the most part, this information represents student life in general, not solely Greek life. As student leaders and powerful sources of campus influence, however, Greeks need to take the responsibility of stepping up and understanding they are part of the problem, while leading the effort to halt the sexual injustices college women, and men, face.

I do not believe that the answer is to remove Greek life from campuses as some have said. I have been a fraternal man myself, and am damn proud of that fact. I believe there is real value in what they can achieve and teach young men. I also believe that there is no man or organization more powerful than one willing to embrace their mistakes and make a structured effort to fix them. This is something I fully expect the Greek community being capable of. This is only possible, however, if we are all willing to accept this as an issue.

The chances to turn this reality around are present and ready to be taken at any time. Through my research of this subject, the most well defined program I found was the One in Four program, which is heavily supported and built through validated professional studies.

Whether my suggestions will be heeded or not, I don’t know, but it is my opinion that this program should be picked up by ALL Greek organizations and made mandatory for their members, nation wide along with campuses adopting more programs on this subject. Whether a specific fraternity or sorority have problems with sexual harassment or not, it is entirely impossible to know that none of their members will ever experience or be apart of these acts. According to studies over the One in Four program, men who see it commit 40% fewer sexual assaults than those who do not.

Worth it? I think so.

If there is a chance to save students, male or female, from sexual assault or rape, should we not do everything we can to take it? The program is only an hour long, so what excuse do we have to not use it, or a similar one?

Brothers. Sisters. We can all make a change.

Let’s do so.