I would like to respond to the letter to the editor sent in from Sean Donahue '96 on Feb 17, 1999. In his letter, Mr. Donahue claims that the Dartmouth fraternities have "created a climate that promotes violence against women" and that the current motion to coeducate the greek system will substantially change this environment. As a woman at Dartmouth, I strongly dispute his claim.
Before you open your previously closed purse-strings to the alumni giving fund, Mr. Donahue, let me elaborate more on violence against women at Dartmouth and the role Greek houses play in combating that violence. The administration that you praise, I find grossly negligent in their concern and policy concerning sexual assault. The College felt that I was prepared to handle sexual assault incidents after a five minute skit during my freshman week. My UGA group did not discuss the issue, and I never heard of an administrative event that offered self-defense techniques or open community discussion of the problem. Instead, I grew to understand that it is a far greater crime in the eyes of the administration to accidently plagarize a text or -- heaven forbid -- throw a punch, than it is to rape a woman. Friends who brought sexual assault cases before the Committee on Standards came back with reports of impossible standards of proof and lenient sentences for those offenders who were found guilty. Most upsetting was the fact that their attacker could -- and did -- return to campus after serving their Parkhurst sentences. For the victims and others informed of the assault, the attacker's continued presence on campus was a second violation of their idea of community, legitimated by the administration's policy.
On the otherhand, Greek life has provided me with an extensive and continuing education on sexual assault and other risks to the health and well-being of women. My first month as a Greek member brought me a required program and discussion of sexual assault, as well as subsequent discussions and lectures on alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and individuals' responsibilities to the larger organization. In my subsequent three years as a Greek member, these discussions -- as well as those on breast and cervical cancer, women's role in the workplace, and birth control -- have been ongoing. I have seen these programs given to single-sex, coed, Greek, and community audiences. In fact, Monday my house, along with another sorority and three fraternities, is sponsoring a community discussion on sexual assault and the role of alcohol on campus. And it's being held in a fraternity. Imagine that.
Finally, a word about the role of Greek houses as a dominant social option on campus and the correlation to sexual assault many assume. We know that the rates of sexual assault are made astonishingly higher by the consumption of alcohol by one or more parties. Greek houses are currently the location of most social events involving alcohol at Dartmouth. Therefore, many look to the Greek system as a "cause" of sexual assault. However, I have never found a safer and less exclusive location for student social life than Greek houses. Only there are people trained to recognize and aid intoxicated individuals. Only there are we in large spaces, open to the public eye. Only there have I seen greeks and non-greeks motivated to stop a stranger from leaving with an individual they feel will be dangerous. On the otherhand, I have seen the affects that dorm parties, off-campus parties, bars, clubs, and the backseats of cars have rendered on women who are isolated from their friends and fell
ow students.
If you believe that bringing women into the fraternity environment will somehow "civilize" the campus, you are following a Victorian notion of woman as the vessal of morality to which I strenuously object. Forcibly coeducating the entire Greek system will only take away a system students have worked hard to create and maintain, one they feel fulfills their needs better than anything the administration has attempted or suggested. We will lose the social space granted women by sororities, create exclusive and unaccountable off-campus houses and cliques, and be dependent on the administration for the parties and programming that the greeks now exclusively provide.
Personally, I don't believe the College's track record on sexual assault, eating disorders, concern for student opinion, and providing viable social options to students should leave us hopeful for that future. Perhaps when the administration shows some real interest for these topics, I will join you in your donations to the alumni giving fund.
