I am writing in response to Matt Nicholson's op-ed piece, "Breaking Down the Rumor Mill" (The Dartmouth, April 1). While I appreciate Mr. Nicholson's desire to repair the damage that a recent hazing violation has done to his fraternity's reputation, I take some offense at the general tone with which Mr. Nicholson addresses this incident.
New Hampshire officials may have determined that "maybe there wasn't an incident to begin with," and some may fail to see that either house acted in the wrong.
However, I feel that it is important for the brothers of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and the sisters of Delta Delta Delta sorority to shoulder their fair share of the blame for this violation.
As a member of a sorority while at Dartmouth, I understand that new members are very eager to please their older brothers and sisters and that they will often design and carry out "pledge missions" based upon behavior that they believe is expected.
These beliefs do not come out of nowhere; new members participate in these often-degrading and uncomfortable "missions" because they know of older members who have done so, or because they know their actions are likely to earn them respect and admiration within the house.
If there is any way to stop incidents such as the one that occurred this fall, it is for brothers and sisters to take a more proactive approach and educate new members from the start on what behavior is and is not acceptable (or worthy of admiration) in their houses.
The solution is certainly not to distance oneself from hazing behavior and take the stance that if you do not actively endorse hazing, it will not occur.
Nor is the solution to downplay these instances by transferring blame, saying that members "only made poor decisions because they were given the leeway by [another house] to do so."
It is only when Greek houses begin to take their fair share of the blame for hazing violations and adopt a more active approach to their eradication that such unfortunate instances may come to an end.
