Fraternity related scandals reached a fever pitch earlier this year over the viral footage of two Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) students at the University of Oklahoma chanting an appalling, racially insensitive song. There was a certain visceral, shocking quality to the story that drew me in, along with the rest of the country. Students marched. The University President swiftly shut down the SAE house. And Danny Duncan Collum wrote “Epic Bad Behavior,” (Sojourners, June 2015), an article advocating for the abolishment of more fraternities. While Collum’s position is extreme, I find it challenging to disagree — even as an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma and its fraternity system.
The OU fraternity members’ behavior seemed to be unanimously condemned by the faculty and student body, including those in fraternities and sororities. Still, as I read social media comments from both current and former members of the OU Greek system, I felt a sense of disappointment that a valuable, albeit painful, lesson was generally missed. Instead of seeing the incident as an opportunity for serious self-reflection, most preferred to frame it as an isolated mistake of two bad apples.
While in a fraternity, I found it peculiar how defensive many in Greek life were to even the slightest criticisms. When classmates playfully joked that fraternities were “centers of conformity” or “places to buy friends,” fraternity members had the usual rebuttals ready: Fraternity members have higher overall GPAs; so much good is done through fraternity philanthropy; most Congressmen were in fraternities (I never found that one too compelling).
If the Greek system could offer such immediate access to parties, networks of friends, and esteem on campus, then why, I wondered, did so many members feel fragile about their position in one? Retrospectively, I suspect it has a lot to do with how privilege, especially privilege built on the exclusion of others, is processed and protected.
Shortly after the scandal at OU, a letter titled “A Message to the World From An Anonymous Fraternity Member At the University of Oklahoma” made its way around the internet. The writer attempts to garner sympathy for those in the Greek System at OU. He explains that in the wake of the scandal, protesters have vandalized many cars and homes, leaving many fraternity members too scared to walk on campus.
“We are no longer trusted by our fellow students,” the writer says. “We are treated like we are all bigots…We are not the bad guys; we have become victims of the chant like everyone else.”
While the vandalism referred to shouldn’t be condoned, the writer takes a shortsighted position, but one that sadly doesn’t surprise me.
During my undergrad years at OU, I took several courses with professor of English Dr. Catherine John. She pushed students to not just deconstruct race theoretically, but to also investigate the role of race in our personal lives. The white students in class, myself included, always seemed resistant and defensive to this process. It’s easy to dismiss the oppression of others as history, or as something enacted by a select group of “bad guys.” But it’s harder to consider that bigotry and oppression are maintained by systems, and that in benefiting from those systems, you are enabling them and therefore culpable. This common state of defensive behavior and denial, which Dr. Robin DiAngelo coined “white fragility,” underpins both the entirety of this “Anonymous Letter” and what seem to be the prevailing attitudes of too many current and former fraternity members.
Maybe for those emotionally connected to their fraternity identity, it’s just too painful to consider that the racist chant at OU is not simply an isolated incident but rather a symptom of a larger system with broken parts.
By and large, most fraternities are constructed and maintained by privilege and exclusion. After being vetted by a pledging and rushing process, only males who can afford the events, the clothes, and the membership fees can join. My fraternity chapter advisor used to regularly say, “There is something about the fraternity environment that makes young men think the rules of normal civil life just don’t apply to them.”
If there are men and women in the Greek system who want to be serious advocates for justice and reconciliation, they could begin to consider that the continual scandals which come up every year in Greek life involving vandalism, racist behavior, hazing, alcohol poisoning, and even rape, might actually be fueled by the sense of privilege and power that fraternity and sorority systems perpetuate.
Fraternities certainly have admirable qualities. I formed close friendships with many good men whom I treasure and remain in touch with, and my fraternity experience was instrumental in developing my leadership abilities. But when we weigh the potential benefits against the harmful behaviors they often encourage, we must ask ourselves: Do these institutions actually contribute to the overall health of our nation?
Even Will Ferrell, a former fraternity member both in the classic fraternity film Old School and off-screen at University of Southern California, said in an interview, “The incident in Oklahoma, that is a real argument for getting rid of the system altogether.”
If this persistent denial on the part of those in the Greek system continues and serious reforms are not given real consideration, I’m prone to agree.
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