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  #1  
Old 09-17-2020, 06:07 PM
ASTalumna06 ASTalumna06 is offline
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Fall of the frat house: Students target Greek life amid America’s racial reckoning

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...66a_story.html

Quote:
Graham Payne-Reichert logged onto Zoom from a lawn chair in the backyard of his unofficial fraternity house, surrounded by three other members of Delta Tau Delta and a futon that had mysteriously snapped in half a few months before.

He watched faces appear one by one on his screen — first his former roommate, then his Spikeball teammate, then the older fraternity brother who had put him at ease during a hard transition to American University just two years ago.

It was one month after the killing of George Floyd and Payne-Reichert, vice president of his fraternity, kicked off a virtual meeting that would break up the chapter he once adored.

For two hours, the virtual group of 26 men discussed the lack of diversity in their fraternity chapter and the Instagram pages that shared anonymous accounts of racism and sexual assault at their school. The meeting ended with a unanimous vote to disband the chapter of Delta Tau Delta.

“The pressure was on those of us in Greek life to justify our existence and we couldn’t do it,” said Payne-Reichert, 20. “I realized that remaining complicit in the system was a moral issue, and it was one I could not live with.”
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  #2  
Old 09-17-2020, 06:25 PM
carnation carnation is offline
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OK, kid, quit if you want to but stop trying to gain glory by doing it.
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  #3  
Old 09-17-2020, 06:40 PM
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honeychile honeychile is offline
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I'm not understanding the need to disband chapters or greek organizations, instead of working to improve them.

Meaningful Change comes from within.
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Old 09-17-2020, 06:42 PM
carnation carnation is offline
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What honeychile said!
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  #5  
Old 09-17-2020, 07:47 PM
*winter* *winter* is offline
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Maybe I’m just a big ol cynic...but I have to wonder if everyone would be voluntarily quitting if it wasn’t for COVID. I’m sure the fact that they can’t really DO anything with their GLOs plays a role here as well...only this way, they can act like they’re doing something for society.
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Old 09-18-2020, 04:36 AM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Originally Posted by *winter* View Post
Maybe I’m just a big ol cynic...but I have to wonder if everyone would be voluntarily quitting if it wasn’t for COVID. I’m sure the fact that they can’t really DO anything with their GLOs plays a role here as well...only this way, they can act like they’re doing something for society.
THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS

It’s kind of the opposite of businesses closing and blaming it on covid when they were already circling the drain on New Years Eve - before any of this started.
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Old 09-18-2020, 08:32 AM
TLLK TLLK is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *winter* View Post
Maybe I’m just a big ol cynic...but I have to wonder if everyone would be voluntarily quitting if it wasn’t for COVID. I’m sure the fact that they can’t really DO anything with their GLOs plays a role here as well...only this way, they can act like they’re doing something for society.
I agree that far reaching impact of COVID 19 ie personal financial instability is very likely influencing some of these votes to leave and or disband. I do not understand the need to completely abolish the Greek System. It would be interesting to do a follow up with some of those who leave and see if they regret their decision in the future.
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  #8  
Old 09-18-2020, 01:24 AM
Interest2020 Interest2020 is offline
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Originally Posted by honeychile View Post
I'm not understanding the need to disband chapters or greek organizations, instead of working to improve them.

Meaningful Change comes from within.
Whew
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  #9  
Old 09-17-2020, 11:01 PM
thetalady thetalady is offline
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So if their chapter is not as diverse as they think it should be, what is stopping THEM from pledging the people that they think will make the chapter more representative? Their membership is totally in their hands, isn't it? I am clearly missing something....
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  #10  
Old 09-18-2020, 04:44 AM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Originally Posted by thetalady View Post
So if their chapter is not as diverse as they think it should be, what is stopping THEM from pledging the people that they think will make the chapter more representative? Their membership is totally in their hands, isn't it? I am clearly missing something....
Because they haven’t been properly taught how to open rush or think outside formalized rush parties as a way to find new members. The five steps every Greek should know:
1 Meet someone
2 Make friends with them
3 Introduce them to your friends
4 Introduce them to your GLO
5 Ask them to join!

I think this generation is so backward socially sometimes that the thought of doing something that doesn’t have a time slot or a power point is akin to asking them to get in a covered wagon and cross the prairie. They think the people who show up for formal rush are their only options for new members.
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  #11  
Old 09-18-2020, 12:56 PM
Kevin Kevin is offline
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In most cases, or at least with my organization, the undergrads do not determine whether their chapter remains open--and it definitely shouldn't be done by majority vote. If you want to resign, then resign. If the anti-segregationist members of Sigma Nu didn't stand up and fight in the late 60s, who knows where we'd be as an organization today?

The chapter had 26 men, so it's probably at the bottom of the social pecking order anyhow and maybe these guys were just looking for an excuse to get out?
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  #12  
Old 09-18-2020, 02:14 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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^^^yep, and even more cynical me thinks they probably think this will get them some whomp whomp.
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  #13  
Old 09-18-2020, 02:19 PM
chi-o_cat chi-o_cat is offline
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I guess this trend is now spreading out to non-Greek orgs as well? At least one I have heard of:

Columbia Marching Band Shuts Itself Down Over ‘Offensive Behavior’
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/n...-shutdown.html

This dissolution appears to based on, not attitudes and behaviors of current members, but of things that have happened over the past 100+ year history of the band. So, like others have commented on fraternities and sororities, rather than make sure these things are no longer happening, and be a model of change going forward, they would rather just end the whole thing completely.
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  #14  
Old 09-18-2020, 03:22 PM
ForrestGrump ForrestGrump is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
In most cases, or at least with my organization, the undergrads do not determine whether their chapter remains open--and it definitely shouldn't be done by majority vote. If you want to resign, then resign. If the anti-segregationist members of Sigma Nu didn't stand up and fight in the late 60s, who knows where we'd be as an organization today?

The chapter had 26 men, so it's probably at the bottom of the social pecking order anyhow and maybe these guys were just looking for an excuse to get out?
No, this wasn't about popularity or social pecking orders. Greek life at American University seems to be a bit of a mess these days. Although it's a diverse campus with students from all over the country (though majority East Coast), there have been several well-publicized incidents of racism and sexual harassment/assault on campus in recent years. Many sorority women have also claimed that there is a "rape culture" among fraternities that has long gone unaddressed, despite many complaints. What the article doesn't say is that there was an incident during the last academic year involving a Delt brother openly spewing racist insults, along with other complaints which got them into hot water with the university and IFC. The membership's vote to "disband" happened before any disciplinary action might have been taken. So did the Delts have a "come to Jesus moment" regarding issues of institutional racism, diversity and matters of social justice, or did they simply cut and run out of embarrassment and a belief that the hammer was about to drop? Or perhaps both were at play?

In addition, there is an active Abolish Greek Life movement on campus that seems to have really taken off in recent months following the BLM protests, amid concerns that Greek life is simply not compatible with greater social justice issues. As was already noted in a separate thread, the AXiD chapter at AU essentially disaffiliated itself out of existence over the spring and summer (although there is still a chartered chapter at AU), due to 1) ongoing pressure from campus and nearby community entities regarding AXiD's affiliation with Autism Speaks; 2) the lack of action by the university, IFC and Panhellenic to tackle the ongoing concerns about racism, sexual assault, etc. 3) the chapter's perception that AXiD nationals isn't doing enough to address larger issues of diversity and inclusion. Now I've read that the Phi Sigma Sigma chapter at AU has also had so many disaffiliations that it is no longer functioning, and most of the other sororities have had a lot of disaffiliations as well.

While I've gotta believe that some of these disaffiliations can be chalked up to COVID-related attrition, there does seem to be a lot of strife and turmoil in the AU Greek community these days (along with a "follow the leader" mentality when it comes to cutting and running from membership).
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  #15  
Old 09-18-2020, 04:32 PM
Sen's Revenge Sen's Revenge is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForrestGrump View Post
No, this wasn't about popularity or social pecking orders. Greek life at American University seems to be a bit of a mess these days. Although it's a diverse campus with students from all over the country (though majority East Coast), there have been several well-publicized incidents of racism and sexual harassment/assault on campus in recent years. Many sorority women have also claimed that there is a "rape culture" among fraternities that has long gone unaddressed, despite many complaints. What the article doesn't say is that there was an incident during the last academic year involving a Delt brother openly spewing racist insults, along with other complaints which got them into hot water with the university and IFC. The membership's vote to "disband" happened before any disciplinary action might have been taken. So did the Delts have a "come to Jesus moment" regarding issues of institutional racism, diversity and matters of social justice, or did they simply cut and run out of embarrassment and a belief that the hammer was about to drop? Or perhaps both were at play?

In addition, there is an active Abolish Greek Life movement on campus that seems to have really taken off in recent months following the BLM protests, amid concerns that Greek life is simply not compatible with greater social justice issues. As was already noted in a separate thread, the AXiD chapter at AU essentially disaffiliated itself out of existence over the spring and summer (although there is still a chartered chapter at AU), due to 1) ongoing pressure from campus and nearby community entities regarding AXiD's affiliation with Autism Speaks; 2) the lack of action by the university, IFC and Panhellenic to tackle the ongoing concerns about racism, sexual assault, etc. 3) the chapter's perception that AXiD nationals isn't doing enough to address larger issues of diversity and inclusion. Now I've read that the Phi Sigma Sigma chapter at AU has also had so many disaffiliations that it is no longer functioning, and most of the other sororities have had a lot of disaffiliations as well.

While I've gotta believe that some of these disaffiliations can be chalked up to COVID-related attrition, there does seem to be a lot of strife and turmoil in the AU Greek community these days (along with a "follow the leader" mentality when it comes to cutting and running from membership).
I HATE spreading gossip, especially on this site, but something else to consider, based on what I heard:

I HEARD that AU is one of the campuses that will expel you and won't release your transcripts if you're found to have participated in hazing.

IF THAT IS TRUE, then that might be another thread of what's going on there.

I went to grad school at AU in the EI days. I agree that drastic action likely needed to be taken, and it's interesting to me that it's occuring on the student level.
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