The problems with the luau party protests were very well explained by Chris Relyea ' 01 and Mark Hill '00 in their Tuesday editorials.However, what bothers me most is the totally gutless reaction of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, Delta Delta Delta sorority, and the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council. While most of their respective membership -- and the campus for that matter -- disagreed with the protests of Omar Rashid '00 and Aaron Akamu '01, these organizations completely gave in to the protesters and conceded the party was indeed offensive.
This reaction is worrisome in many respects. Organizations are so afraid of being labeled as insensitive by a small group of campus activists that they are willing to bend over backwards to appease the protesters, even though they have done absolutely nothing wrong. Unfortunately, this just gives the campus thought police even more confidence that they are the sole arbitrators of what can and cannot occur on this campus.
Unless organizations begin to stand up for themselves, such protests will continue--and be based on increasingly ridiculous premises. For example, little challenge was mounted against Rashid's charges of racism against Sig Ep in January for the so-called "Cuban" party, despite the fact that the party had zero to do with Cuba or Cubans. Due to the lack of a challenge, those who are even marginally offended by a future event know that they will not only be listened to but also that the "offending" party will go out of its way to appease them.
So is it any surprise that a protest results when something as innocent as a luau is planned? Of course not. Simple charges of "racism" and "bigotry" are enough to convict on this campus. Who knows what the next "offensive" event will be.
Whatever it is, it will most likely follow a familiar pattern. First there will be emotional charges of insensitivity. These charges will be quickly followed by threats of protest and calls for disciplinary action. The "offenders" will then quickly offer an apology for their "insensitivity" and a promise to be more conscious of the offended groups in the future. The lack of merit in the charges is completely irrelevant. Someone needs to stand up and stop this cult of political correctness. Otherwise, we might as well stop interacting with each other completely, for anything we do will in some way offend some individual.
The reason Greek organizations are so willing to give into these protests is fairly obvious given the current uncertainty in their future status. The administration already believes that these organizations are inherently racist, insensitive, etc. Of course, the Greek organizations want to do everything possible to dispel this image. As a result, they feel that if they apologize to every individual or group that claims offense, they will be improving their image with the administration.
I personally do not think these apologies do much to help them with the administration. By caving into these inane protests, they are conceding to the administration that they are insensitive organizations.
Furthermore, their apologies and concessions probably do not do much to change the mind of the administration regarding how they feel about Greek organizations anyway. The administration made up its mind a long time ago and anything you do will not change it all that much.
Rather than trying to impress and appease the administration and the protesters, the Greek organizations should simply stand up to the bullying tactics of the Dartmouth thought police. If no one stands up to them, expect future pointless and divisive cases of "insensitivity," for they will continue to find offense in everything that takes place on this campus.
