There is a petition circulating on the SA Government website that calls for the renaming of the Fraternity Quad at the University of Rochester. If you're not familiar with the area, the Fraternity quad consists of seven fraternity houses (as in houses occupied by fraternities, I am aware that Sigma Phi Epsilon is an Academic Living Center), and two houses that are currently known as the Drama House and the Douglas Leadership House.
Let me start off by saying I think that it is fantastic that we have two houses on campus that provide alternative living communities filled with engaging and passionate people. These are communities that should be highlighted and celebrated, and I have no reason to believe that in the foreseeable future they will be forced to leave the frat quad. If, as the SA Petition claims, there are tour guides that fail to mention these communities, then that is a shame and is something that should be remedied. This is a big "if" though, as multiple Meridians have affirmed that DLH and Drama House are mentioned on tours.
That being said, I do not think that we should change the name of the Fraternity Quad (and I might add the SA Petition did not suggest an alternate name). I am a supporter of "female students (being one myself), students of color, students interested in drama, and students committed to celebrating and learning from uniqueness" as the post on Facebook identifies, but I am also a supporter of the Greek community at Rochester. A community that often gets overlooked, and frequently judged, for simply existing.
As someone that has admittedly spent a lot of time on the frat quad throughout my almost four years at the U of R, I have never taken issue with the operation or occupation of fraternity houses on campus. In fact, I think that it is much safer to have fraternity houses located on campus, where there is a large presence of Public Safety, rather than forcing fraternities into off-campus locations that are less safe for students.
Additionally, all of the houses on the fraternity quad were established by fraternities and are currently being maintained by the fraternities that they house. These fraternities do substantial philanthropic work and campus programming—to ignore this marginalizes the hard work and commitment of these organizations.
For some people, a fraternity is a safe space to make lifelong friends and connections that shape the course of individuals' college experiences. Fraternities are also fantastic ways to network, and there is an extensive group of fraternity alumni from the U of R that have gone on to accomplish fantastic things. It would be insulting to overwrite the positive influence of these individuals and organizations by renaming the Fraternity Quad.
Further, if this is an issue that people are serious about, then the place to start is through discussion and discourse. Two emotionally charged opposite SA Government petitions are not the appropriate way to tackle whether or not certain campus groups are overlooked. I also resent someone telling me how I should feel based on whether or not I am in a group (women) that is theoretically under-emphasized by the existence of the fraternity quad. I have no desire to live in a sorority house, but I'm glad that the fraternity quad exists as a place for hardworking U of R students to socialize. As a separate issue, the predatory party culture that is perpetuated on college campuses would exist regardless of whether or not we have fraternities or a fraternity quad, so as a woman I don't find it problematic that these spaces exist.
Changing the name of the frat quad is a hollow gesture that will not fix issues of race and representation on our campus. Such action subverts a campus community that, despite public perception, makes up a minority of students (Greek life accounts for 24 percent of our student population). Furthermore, the true meaning of the word "fraternity" is "a group of people sharing a common profession or interests" which does actually fit the groups that are represented on the frat quad.
I think that there are real battles to be fought on this campus in regards to representation, diversity, and intellectual development of the student body, but the place to start is not by attacking other student groups.
