A series of anti-Greek system actions during recent weeks has aroused anger among members of the Greek community and caused some to look to the administration for protection.
Early Wednesday morning, an anonymous group posted pink flyers in residence halls across campus. The posters not only accused individual fraternities of harboring rapists and using offensive language, but also criticized sorority practices which the flyers said degraded women.
One flyer stated Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity and Gamma Delta Chi fraternity "protected brothers who had been found guilty of sexual assault by [the Committee on Standards]. Are you safe at a house that harbors rapists?"
Another flyer said Epsilon Kappa Theta, Kappa Delta Epsilon, Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Kappa Gamma sororities "took their new members to sing at fraternities to the brothers' chants of, 'Take off your shirt.' The women of Kappa even got on their knees for the show. Women: Why are you degrading yourselves and each other??"
Also early Wednesday morning, the same group wrote chalk messages across campus on sidewalks, near campus buildings and in front of a number of fraternities.
On the three steps leading to the Collis Center, the messages read "Frats assault. Frats rape. Frats suck." In front of the Gold Coast residence cluster, the chalk message read "Frats --> rats --> rape."
Chalkings in front of Zeta Psi fraternity read "Rapists at Zete?" Zete President Tom Millet '98 said he called Safety and Security about the chalking because "there was an incident during the Winter or Fall term that was similar."
Members of the group responsible for the flyers and the chalkings declined to comment last night.
But the posters and chalkings are not the only anti-Greek incidents that have occurred in recent weeks.
Three weeks ago, an anonymous letter was sent to Safety and Security claiming that Tri-Delta had planned a suspicious event prior to their formal on Saturday, May 3.
And earlier this term, Safety and Security officers came to Chi Heorot fraternity responding to an anonymous phone tip, Heorot President Brian Fleming '98 said.
Fleming said the phone tip seemed similar to the Tri-Delta letter "because of the anonymity of it and that they both suggested underage drinking," but he said he wonders who was responsible.
Fleming also referred to chalkings which read "We are watching," which have repeatedly appeared across campus throughout the term.
"We are watching" was also written in chalk on the porch of Gamma Delt two weeks ago, according to Gamma Delt President Fouad ElNaggar '98.
"When they write 'We are watching,' you have to wonder who 'we' is," Fleming said.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton said the behavior of the people responsible for the posters and the chalkings is unacceptable, but he does not believe any actions violated the College's Code of Conduct.
Pelton said the College's policy towards chalk on sidewalks is to leave it undisturbed and "let nature take its course" and said he has not received any reports of "any signings that fit into the category of defacing or harassment or vandalism."
Pelton said he had not heard about the chalkings on Gamma Delt's porch.
Members of the Greek system expressed anger at both the content and the anonymity of the flyers.
One flyer said that, after the "infamous poem" written by the since-derecognized Beta Theta Pi fraternity was released, "Kappa stood in their bras at a football game with 'S-A-V-E B-E-T-A' painted on their stomachs."
Kappa President Kristen Hinman '98 said "it's unfortunate that people stereotype against individuals based on a collective identity. They are made up of individual members with their own individual identities."
Chi Gam President John Maldonado '98 said chalking in front of his fraternity's house read "sexism at Chi Scam" and "Jason is a faggot." According to one flyer, Chi Gam brothers chanted "Jason is a faggot" at a brother. Maldonado said "it never happened. We never even had a brother named Jason in the house."
Maldonado said he was particularly upset by the accusation that Chi Gam harbored rapists.
"I don't think the people that did this gave a moment's thought to what these accusations were going to do to the members of the houses," he said. "It didn't seem like they had much intention rather than to hurt certain frats and sororities."
ElNaggar said "personally I think it's a bunch of bllsht. They're basically nuts. They indicted our house as being a bunch of rapists."
ElNaggar said the administration should do something to "stand up" for fraternities and sororities.
"We're responsible for 90 percent of the social activities on campus and we get harassed like this," ElNaggar said. "If someone wrote something on someone's message board, something would be done about it. The administration needs to do something about this."
