Dear Dr. Lisa Wade,
I recently read your piece in Time Magazine, "Why Colleges Should Get Rid of Fraternities For Good," calling for the complete & permanent eradication of Greek Life everywhere after the Tim Piazza incident at PSU. Although cultural changes are necessary to ensure our students' safety, this proposal to completely eradicate Greek Life is only one poorly thought-out solution. The logic is based mostly on fraternity stereotypes among other impulsive assumptions you imply.
First, you dismiss the possibility of reform because "fraternities have been synonymous with risk-taking and defiance from their very inception." Although the concept of fraternities may have dubious origins as you point out, more rules have been established among other measures taken to prevent chaos associated with Greek Life activities. Organizations must comply to obtain official recognition. It's also disturbing to assume all social fraternities do nothing but party & engage in risky actions. Like you and me, Greek Life members are unique human beings. The chances of all members being destructive and rebellious are highly unlikely.
Second, you continue along this path; I'm sure some organizations were created for malicious intentions, but not all fraternities "are a brotherhood born in mutiny and forged in the fire of rebellion..." as you say. For instance, Alpha Epsilon Pi is a Jewish-principled organization that began after Charles Moskowitz asked a fraternity at NYU whether his Jewish friends could pledge with him. When that other fraternity answered "no," Moskowitz rejected his bid and started AEPi. Furthermore, Pi Lambda Phi was started by men who were rejected from Yale for racial & religious reasons. I'll stop this long list here. Why then, should they be grouped with stereotypical fraternities?
Third, when you argue agreeing "to the reasonable demands of outsiders... would do such violence to their legacies [and] alter their organizations beyond recognition," do you mean Greek Life dominates every school that has it? It may interest you to know that although Greek Life may be highly popular at schools like PSU, it lacks that popularity at other schools. At Hofstra University, my school, Greek Life isn't seen as necessary to enjoy yourself, even though it's available to those who want it. Much more important criteria like academics are why most students select their schools. I hereby caution you against supposing fraternities control every campus.
Fourth, you claim there will be future Tim Piazza's "unless we end Greek Life for good." The premonition that terminating Greek Life will end hazing, drug abuse, sexual assault or other issues associated with fraternities is dangerous; that's like presuming without wars, nobody would die. Also, these issues present themselves outside the context of Greek Life and have done so for centuries. Hazing, for one, also plagues sports teams, gangs and even the military. Then there's the Baylor sexual assault scandal where football, not Greek Life, was wrongfully prioritized above people's safety. All these issues are too complex for such a simple solution as you proposed. This notion that without fraternities, everything else will fix itself is irrational.
Before I conclude Dr. Wade, I acquiesce to your well-intended piece in these respects. Concerning the fraternity brothers involved with Tim Piazza, they need to face justice for their actions. Many widespread social issues on campuses are often enabled by fraternities and sororities. While most Greek organizations accomplish amazing philanthropic goals, that shouldn't excuse transgressions. Therefore, we need to stop tolerating sexual assault, hazing, prejudice, destructive decisions among other behaviors and start condemning them. Students must feel empowered to act when things go awry, which can require more education on these issues. Lastly, the troublesome philosophy of profits over safety needs to end everywhere.
Having said that, your logic is still faulty; it's based on stereotypes and capricious assumptions. You cited only one incident, yet put the whole Greek Community under negative umbrellas. You also figured that (1) fraternities have dominant control at all schools, (2) all the brothers do is party & (3) they're all unwilling to reform. Perhaps many of them enable social problems; however, there are other prominent sources of enablement, perhaps in the media or in some families & upbringings. Finally, as despicable as the Beta Theta Pi brothers' decisions were, is it really beneficial to punish millions of students over 18+ people's choices?
Dr. Wade, I know it's frustrating to watch the same issues take tragic tolls on us. But your proposal isn't well-thought out. After PSU reacted with stringent Greek rules, I imagine other schools will follow suit. While fraternities remain though, maybe these organizations, in and of themselves, aren't the root of all college problems.
Sincerely,
A G.D.I.
