Last week, the Interfraternity Council, in partnership with Mentors Against Violence, Sexual Assault Peer Advisors and Student Assembly, announced the launch of a new sexual assault education program that will be mandatory for all IFC houses beginning this fall. The program is designed to train each incoming pledge class on how to prevent sexual assault in its fraternity house and facilitate discussion among the older brothers on how best to deal with a potential incident. More importantly, the new program will be customized for each fraternity house, recognizing the unique characteristics of each organization and the specific problems that could arise in each basement. As a member of the IFC committee responsible for the development of this program, I am very proud of this accomplishment. It is my hope that this landmark program will not only serve its purpose to better educate the Greek community about sexual assault, but also act as an example of the great things that Greeks can accomplish when they work together with each other and the other resources on campus.
For a while the Greek system has been a scapegoat for many problems on this campus. Greeks are blamed for causing alcoholism. Difficult pledge terms are criticized for hurting academic performance and indoctrinating lifestyles that do not work in the real world. Fraternity houses are labeled as havens for sexual predators and misogynistic mentalities. The proper role of Greek life at Dartmouth has long been a topic for debate in classrooms and trustee elections.
I do not intend to deny any of these labels and accusations -- the aforementioned problems do indeed exist at Dartmouth. As the primary social space on campus, the Greek system ought to shoulder some of this blame. However, the existence of fraternities at Dartmouth cannot be the sole reason for the presence of any single problem at this school. To accuse the Greek system of being fully responsible for any of these problems is naive and unfair. Sadly, amidst all the negativity directed toward Greeks at Dartmouth, the student body and the public at large tends to ignore all the positive contributions that Greeks make to this campus.
Each year Greeks at Dartmouth contribute thousands of community service hours. Greek houses raise thousands of dollars for a great variety of charitable organizations. The average Greek GPA is higher than the overall campus average and many valedictorians have been members of Greek houses. Greek houses sponsor many alcohol discussions and diversity panels that are open to the entire school. Alpha Delta fraternity's "Don't Yell Fag from the Porch" is just one recent example. Greek houses provide venues for campus dance and musical groups. The money earned from these performances allows those groups to continue to flourish. Many of the campus' best leaders hail from Greek organizations, as evidenced by the election of two Greek candidates for Student Assembly president and vice president. Finally, it is often members of the Greek community who have the most pride for Dartmouth, are the most concerned with the direction of the College and are the most active as alumni. The alumni networks available to members of each house are incredibly supportive and helpful to undergraduates. It is time that the Greek community receives some positive credit for all the good it does on and around the Dartmouth campus.
The development of the IFC sexual assault awareness program is just another accomplishment for the Greek system. By working together with a variety of groups on campus, the Greeks recognized a problem that it could use its resources to help fix. The Greek community demonstrated that it could work together with other students with similar goals to accomplish something that could lead to a major improvement on campus. If the program survives its trial period, there will soon come a time where every single member of a Greek organization will be trained and educated about sexual assault prevention. It is also important to keep in mind that this was an initiative that was spearheaded by Greeks themselves; there was no outside influence guiding the actions of the IFC.
There are many criticisms of the Greek system at Dartmouth and some are certainly justified. While the Greek community has recognized some of its flaws and has taken actions to improve, I would hope that some critics would take a moment to acknowledge the many great aspects of the Greek system at Dartmouth.
