To the Editor:
I am not a student at Dartmouth College and the intent of this letter isn't to impress the male, female or administrative population of your illustrious school. I am, however, an active brother of Zeta Psi fraternity at another institution, and I feel so strongly about this issue that I don't feel that it would be just for me not to speak my peace. Maybe not being a student at your school gives me no right to have this printed and distributed, but perhaps, being on the outside gives you that much more of a reason to hear me out.
Upon hearing the news of the "sex papers," as you have so deemed them, I was very disappointed. Although I have met only a handful of the brothers, it is always a sad time when news of this kind is heard. And, while bored at my job, I had become overwhelmed with the articles and letters that ensued. It would be hypocritical for me to say that some of the articles could be filed in the "mind your own business" category, as I'm sure some of you are thinking that about me right now. Please let it be known that I don't agree with the articles published by my brothers at Zeta Psi, but I am also not in agreement with the seemingly one-sided bashing that they are taking.
I have heard both Mr. Nelson's (The Dartmouth, April 19th, "A Letter From Zeta Psi") and Mr. Ryan's (The Dartmouth, April 23rd, "Zete Alum: Live and Learn") letters, and while both of these men are on opposite sides of the spectrum, both are wrong. To Mr. Ryan: there is no excuse besides irresponsibility for those documents to not only be created and printed, but also allowed to be found and brought to a higher authority. It seems here that you are merely trying to do the "right thing" by standing up for your brothers, and if this is not the case, I feel sorry for your outlook on life at a gender standpoint. To Mr. Nelson, I am not sure whom you planned on kidding, but that person was not me. I agree with you on the point that all men don't think like the brothers of Zeta Psi, and I also agree that perhaps, you are not a man. The letter that you wrote was so transparent, I caught myself laughing. I believe truthfulness and honor to be main characteristics of a man, and you showed me neither. Both men and women have a responsibility to control their hormones, and exercise self-control. And there would never be a time if a woman were to not hold these qualities that I would not refer to her as such. I hope you impressed whomever you planned on impressing.
Now it has become blatantly obvious to me that the brothers were intent on not letting that document exit the confines of the house. It is also obvious to me that no harm was meant to be done to the people involved in the article. They were just having fun at someone else's expense. Does this make it right? No. But then again, I never claimed that it was. Now to all of you people who are being so critical over this, you are no better. Perhaps on a lower scale, but I am confident that you have made an obscene joke behind someone's back about who they hooked up with, and why, and how etc, and I'm sure that you've all laughed at the jokes being told to you. The thing is, in everything we do there are consequences -- for instance when "brother" decided it would be a good idea to let "female" up to his room (from the "interview" in the Sigma Report) and for "female" to be lifting up her shirt in the company of what looks like several males, and for the brothers of Zeta Psi to print a ridiculous, fake newsletter.
While I am in total agreement that action must be taken, I ask should the college as a whole be so bold as to remove them from the campus? My personal opinion is absolutely not, and I hope that there are some out there who feel the same.
