I have been following with sadness the latest installment in the history of Dartmouth's Greek system. While Zeta Psi fraternity is clearly at fault this time and must be held accountable, its newsletters are just the most recent revelation in a long-term, system-wide pattern of appalling behavior. This conversation about whether to try to fix or to abolish Dartmouth's Greek system has been going on for generations, as we've heard from Martha S. Hennessey '76 in her letter to the editor ("Heartbreaking," 4/20/01), and in Rachel Osterman's article about the Zeta Psi ("Zete 'sex papers' not a new creation," 4/20/01).
I hope that finally, the campus will move to thoughtful and decisive action. Both affiliated and independent students can act today to change how the Greek system negatively impacts Dartmouth.
For members of Greek houses:
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Review the public and secret parts of your organization that may be violent or disrespectful to members and/or non-members. Start with the structure of your organization, including officer titles and position descriptions, house meetings, rush traditions, and pledging rituals. Look at publications (newsletters, manuals, videos, audio tapes), uniforms (t-shirts or other house clothing), songs, games, artwork, or other house-produced items. Get help from non-member student, professor, administrator, and alumni reviewers.
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If you or your outside reviewers find problems with your house's structure, officer positions, or membership rituals, abolish them immediately. If you find that any house items produced for public or private use are violent, disrespectful, or otherwise in conflict with the Dartmouth Principle of Community, stop producing them immediately. Donate the house funds you have saved to campus or outside organizations that fight violence and disrespect. Health Resources and Tucker Foundation staff can help you.
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If you belong to a house whose members will not change its disrespectful and violent traditions, despite your best efforts to make this change happen, depledge immediately. Take others with you. Do not continue to support these traditions with your membership dollars. The large number of students, professors, administrators, and alumni who have been calling for change in the past few weeks will support your decision.
For all students:
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Attend events at Greek organizations across campus, including house meetings, parties, and non-social events. Encourage professors, administrators, and alumni to join you. Learn about organizations' language, publications, uniforms, songs, membership rituals, and other traditions. Confront your member-friends about what goes on in their houses. Insist on the immediate abolition of any violent or disrespectful traditions you find.
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If you know of any parts of a Greek organization that are violent or disrespectful, make them public immediately. Report all crimes to the Hanover Police. Applaud courageous student-leaders like Melissa Heaton '02 who bring these issues to light. Do not allow your silence to continue to shelter these institutions.
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Continue the thought-provoking discussions that have begun, through spring, into summer, into fall, instead of rush. Find allies in your peers, professors, administrators, and alumni. Start with the 101 faculty members who signed the letter to President of the College James Wright and the Board of Trustees.
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Don't wait for the College to derecognize a Greek organization that has encouraged or perpetrated disrespectful or violent attitudes and behavior. Derecognize with your own actions -- do not attend parties at the house, do not co-sponsor athletic, social, philanthropic, or academic events with the house, and visit any member-friends at safe locations. Support students who depledge their Greek organizations.
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If the Greek system cannot be repaired, and its member-houses refuse to change its disrespectful and violent traditions, despite your best efforts to make this change happen, abolish the Greek system immediately. Do not continue these unacceptable traditions with your attendance, participation, and/or membership dollars. The students, professors, administrators, and alumni who have been calling for this change for many years will welcome your decision.
