Upon opening The D on Friday, I was quite surprised to see the expertly drawn pie graphs which indicated that an overwhelming percentage of Dartmouth students favor the continuation of the Greek system. The public debate ensuing from the announcement and its inferred consequences has also seemed inaccurately one-sided to me. Topics that have been at the core of many conversations that I've had about this issue, both of late and in the past three and a half years, have not yet figured in the discussion. In articulating only two points that I think crucial to include in any formulation of the impact of the Greek system on the Dartmouth campus, I do not intend or wish to invalidate any personal experiences within individual houses. Instead, I would like to address issues that are endemic in the Greek system as a whole and affect the entire Dartmouth community by fostering division of the campus and discomfort for some members of the general population.
It seems to me as though people who are members of the Greek system have been very defensive about their current and future place on this campus as "Greeks" for as long as I have been a Dartmouth student. For the most part, I am happy to say, my impression is that most students do not look at their peers and think, oh s/he's an "XYZ," then proceed to assume a set of personality traits and lifestyle choices for her/him without taking the time to look further in their assessment of that individual. However, I have also seen people attend events and participate in various ways on campus, not as individuals, but as representatives of their houses. During the community meetings discussing the "ghetto" party incident, I saw many of my friends, who are wonderful and thoughtful individuals, come to that discussion with the attitude that they were going to represent the Greek system in general and their house specifically so as not to let the final outcome be a negative portrayal of the Greek system as a whole. They clustered together with the people who have been their brothers or sisters for two years now and arranged to go into the smaller groups together so that they wouldn't be ambushed by those individuals who might jump at this opportunity to bash the system. I can think of no other social institution at Dartmouth which works positively to inspire such loyalty and protectiveness or can negatively supplant the thoughts and perspectives of individuals with the interests of the group.
I think it also important to address the catch-phrase that I have heard throughout my time here and particularly of late: that the Greek system provides important benefits to the campus as being the most important social option at Dartmouth. Indeed, particularly when I was a freshman and sophomore, I do not know what I would have done if I hadn't gone to a fraternity (very occasionally to a sorority) most Friday and Saturday nights. But these "benefits" were never "provided" unconditionally: I sometimes had to chug a beer at the door of a privately-owned and controlled house before being allowed to come in and dance; I watched some men and women humiliated as they were denied access because the brother at the door decided that he or she was not the kind of person he wanted at his party. (I chose specifically to gender that example because in my personal experience, I have never observed that behavior at a sorority.) And indeed, although fraternities and some sororities generously open their homes to destruction by the entire campus, I have always felt like I was a conditional guest. A certain power dynamic operates particularly when it comes to getting into a party or getting alcohol at a party. Many brothers, sisters and houses do not wield that power capriciously or irresponsibly. But that the power to control social options is in the hands of people who can or cannot open it to the whole campus at their own choosing creates a disturbing imbalance within social settings here.
In closing, I would like to ask that people consider the extent of power which the Greek system and individual houses wield over the way we all interact on a daily basis. Is that imbalance appropriate in serving as the basis for our social interactions?
