It seems as if Greek Life can't find its way out of the spotlight these days. The brothers of Sigma Nu at Old Dominion have made a name for themselves, but for all the wrong reasons. During welcome, they hung banners "welcoming" freshman women (and their moms) on the balcony of their fraternity house for the whole campus to see. Obviously, the brothers of Sigma Nu and I, along with others, have very different definitions of the word "welcoming."
The three banners, reading "Rowdy And Fun! Hope your baby girl is ready for a good time," "Freshman daughter drop off," and "Go ahead and drop mom off too," were on display as new freshmen arrived on campus, but were quickly removed after campus staff were notified. Not only were the banners just plain offensive, the university as a whole is accused of having a "rape culture," a stigma it does not deserve.
And this isn't the first chapter of Sigma Nu to do something sexually suggestive. The Sigma Nu chapter at the University of Central Florida was recently recorded on video chanting, "let's rape some [explicit]" at a party the brothers attended.
The chapter at Old Dominion has since had all their activities suspended until further notice.
The first thing I want to say to the brothers of Sigma Nu is, did you ever think about how your banners would affect the new students or even the upperclass students, especially the women of the university? Sigma Nu brothers, did you know one in four women will be victims of sexual assault during their time at college and that women are most vulnerable to rape their freshman and sophomore year of school? That means that 25 percent of the women who attended the university in previous years and walked past your banner have already been raped, which means you just reminded them of their horrible ordeal. And the incoming women, who were most likely warned about potential rapes beforehand, now realize that they actually have something to fear. How are women supposed to walk around campus comfortably knowing that you're willing and ready to force them into doing whatever you want?
Secondly, although this article is aimed specifically at the brothers of Sigma Nu, I realize that you're not the only fraternity to give Greek Life a bad image. After seeing your welcome sign, a writer for Total Frat Move published an article in which several different fraternity chapters were pictured with their own versions of "welcome" signs. The writer, Harrison Lee, writes off the behavior of the Sigma Nu chapter at both Old Dominion and the other fraternities mentioned as "guys being dudes. No harm. No foul." No Harm, no foul?! Excuse me, Mr. Lee, but did you know that according to a study done by the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center "1 in 12 college-age men admit having fulfilled the prevailing definition of rape or attempted rape, yet virtually none of these men identify themselves as rapists." Simply put, numerous college-age men have committed rape but don't consider themselves rapists and, honestly, Mr. Lee, I wouldn't be surprised if you were a part of that statistic since you believe there's "no foul" in the actions of these fraternity men.
I write this article to make an example of the brothers of Sigma Nu and I will not apologize for that. As a woman, I'm tired of going to a party where men are present and constantly having to look over my shoulder whenever I find myself alone. I'm tired of worrying about whether my friends made it home safely or if they ran into a boy with the same mentality as you.
As a sorority woman, however, I'm tired of fraternities like you giving a bad rap to Greek Life altogether. Not even a week ago a wrote an article in which I said that "no matter the letters, we're all Greek together" and I continue to stand by that. When you decide to post sexually suggestive banners that imply rape, that reflects negatively on the whole Greek community. I'm tired of having to defend Greek Life to people who think it boast "exclusivity" and "allows rapists to get away with their crimes" all because you thought it would be funny to hang a banner to make fun of a serious epidemic spreading throughout college campuses.
Did you know that members from Kappa Sig from Sacramento State stopped a possible terrorist attack on a train in France? But how many news sites will be talking about that after they get ahold of the pictures of your "welcome" signs?
The only piece of advice I have for the brothers of Sigma Nu, and any other fraternity men who think this situation is comical, is this: you're always wearing your letters. Whether you choose to hang obscenities from your fraternity house or write them on your forehand, your actions not only impact your specific chapter but the Greek community as a whole, so start thinking before you act because you're making the rest of us look bad.
