To the Editor:
This letter is a response to Professor Tom Luxon's letter (" 'Frat boys' acted immaturely at 'Hell Night' video showing," Oct. 23, 1995), printed in Monday's issue of The Dartmouth, which was written in response to comments from fraternity members printed in Thursday's issue of the paper (" 'Hell Night' video interrupted," Oct. 19, 1995). Two of the students quoted in Thursday's issue and referred to in Luxon's letter were members of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity. I am the president of Alpha Chi Alpha, but I am not writing this letter to defend the members of my organization to whom Professor Luxon referred in his letter. I would rather address some of the conclusions Luxon has drawn about the fraternity system and what he feels is important to its members.
At Luxon's presentation of the "Hell Night" video last week he tried to reinforce a commonly-held belief among many liberals on this campus that fraternities are barbaric organizations and are dangerous to the spiritual well-being of the College. The implications that lie buried in some of his comments are dangerous and untrue.
Luxon commented on fraternity caps donned by many of the audience members, saying they were wearing their "agenda" on their heads. Michael Goody's comment (that Luxon was obviously against "our cause") did nothing to discredit Luxon's implication. The implication is that the type of behavior exhibited in the "Hell Night" video is of the utmost importance to current fraternity members and is, in fact, central to the life of the fraternity. Luxon addressed the issue in his brief presentation, saying "In initiation rituals, organizations take pains to demonstrate ... what is most important about that organization. This is no different." Luxon's comment about the fraternity caps implies that the fraternity members present attended in order to glorify the underlying principles of a once flourishing society in which young men disrespected women. His comment implied that such behavior is basic to the system. I disagree strongly. His subsequent letter to The Dartmouth, in which he quoted disgusting quotations from an Alpha Delta audio tape, charged that current fraternity members would find objectification of women funny and gratifying. Professor Luxon cannot assume that such attitudes are prevalent among current fraternity members, as there is no institutionalization of such offensive ideas in my organization -- it is simply not a part of our existence. If a member is misogynistic or insensitive to the community, the fraternity has not encouraged him.
Professor Luxon took an outdated video and assumed that its contents reflected the "most important" aspects of fraternity life. Was Professor Luxon a member of a fraternity? How can he possibly know what is most important to each individual organization? I would not draw conclusions about Tom Luxon's life before knowing him, so how can he draw conclusions about our lives without knowing us? Alpha Chi Alpha is a family of friends, where the most important thing to the members is each other. The house is the membership and they should not be stigmatized by lewd and disgusting acts performed by other members eight years ago.
Our "agenda" is simple -- to develop friendships that last a lifetime. This agenda does not, to any degree, require offensive behavior like that shown in the video. I do not accept Luxon's implication; I found the "agenda" comment an offensive and repulsive show of self-righteousness. You do not know us, so please do not stigmatize us because some stupid videotape fell into your lap in 1988. We just might have to stigmatize you as a flaming liberal who has no idea what's important. Call me reactionary, but that is what I see.
