To the Editor:
The recent disclosure of Zeta Psi fraternity's now infamous weekly gazette, and, more importantly, Zeta Psi's all-too-predictable reaction to being exposed, are just new readings of a tired Dartmouth script. The fact that Zeta Psi has published contrite apologies and defenses of its "general" character as a house after being exposed should surprise absolutely no one. Of course they're contrite and apologetic: the brothers are being censored by virtually the entire college community and are in danger of losing their house. It doesn't take a surplus of common sense to realize that being sorry for committing an offense and being sorry for getting caught are two very different things, and which one is the case here is obvious. As a huge number of students made clear Wednesday night, Zeta Psi's newsletter is evidence of disgustingly poor gender relations at Dartmouth, and of deeply rooted sexism at Zeta Psi.
It is also evidence of something equally disturbing -- the almost total absence of institutional integrity among a number of organizations at Dartmouth, and especially among those whose affairs are kept secret. An organization has integrity when it is able to evaluate and correct its own moral behavior from within, when its members are willing, and even encouraged, to question the status quo. An organization has integrity when it is able to recognize and admit to itself that it is wrong, and is able to accept the pain and humility demanded by change. An organization has integrity when it accepts responsibility for the actions of its members, and is willing to censure members who betray its core values.
If former Zeta Psi members like Alex Nazaryan and Matthew Egalka felt the weekly sex papers were wrong, but failed to do what they knew to be right and speak out, the rest of us ought to wonder why. It's easy to simply chalk their inaction up to a failure of moral courage, but that is only one important half of the story. The other half is that a fraternity whose core values include blind obedience to tradition, conformity, secrecy, and loyalty to individual brothers is not an organization that encourages dissenting opinions. I have witnessed fraternity brothers speak out against their houses on moral grounds, and their reward has invariably been to be ostracized from the house, no matter how legitimate their objections. It is hardly surprising that most lack the courage to speak in the first place, as contemptible as that cowardice may be.
The fact that Greek houses are able to rely on secrecy only exacerbates the problem. One of the first clues that what you're doing is wrong is the fear that it will be discovered. Sexism, racism, and homophobia rely on secrecy to survive, at Dartmouth and everywhere else. Dartmouth's secret organizations, by virtue of their very existence, provide a possible haven for behavior that the larger community would never accept.
The secrecy of the Greeks means that the only moral check on a Greek house comes from within the house itself, at least until an abuse like Zeta Psi's sees the rare light of day. If Zeta Psi is a good example of how well houses check up on themselves, the Greek system at Dartmouth is in sorry shape indeed. Unless houses are able to recognize when their own actions are wrong, unless individual brothers begin to see their loyalty to the supposed "true values" of the house as higher than their loyalty to individual brothers or to shameful "traditions," and unless the individual houses within the system begin taking long and painful looks at themselves, the Greek system at Dartmouth will not survive. In a number of ways, Dartmouth will be a poorer place without the Greeks. But if houses continue to abuse the power provided by their secrecy, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the community declares that it has had enough, and throws a drowning baby out with some very rancid bathwater.
