To the Editors:
Your editorial in Wednesday's issue exemplifies what is wrong with this college community when it comes to dealing with problematic issues.Perhaps one reason why we haven't found any solutions is precisely attitudes such as yours.
You first attack the women who found the now-infamous 'Beta poem.' You write that they were 'too intimidated' and that they 'weakened' their support system for women. First of all, these women were brave enough to walk into a fraternity and have a discussion with many obviously unhappy brothers who greatly outnumbered them. These women found something terribly offensive and had the courage to act on it. They did not squeal to a self-righteous campus publication. Instead, they attempted an alternative--they actually spoke with members of the fraternity involved, and had a productive discussion of issues and awareness of those issues. These women chose not to identify with any particular Greek organization, and many of them did not even want Beta's name to be mentioned. Your editorial criticizes them for this decision, as if it were an act of cowardice. However, the women chose to focus on the issue at hand, rather than polarize and finger point, as your paper was quick to do. Also, many fraternity members did not agree with the 'poem'; the women recognized that to blame an entire fraternity for an individual's mistake would be unfair. The Dartmouth, of course, must not care about that.
Secondly, in calling for the derecognition of Beta, you clearly display the political and self-serving agenda of what you call a 'discussion that should be opened to the entire campus.' What a discussion that would have been! How can you call for an open forum, having made up your mind about a conviction and sentence?
As for the issues of sexism and racism, they unfortunately do exist and have always existed. Though perhaps the Greek system fosters some malignant attitudes, surely it should not be solely blamed. Beta, too, is not alone in these unfortunate events, and therefore should not be singled out. The women recognized this, and took action. I would guess that their talk was more productive than your finger-pointing.
