As the current president of Theta Delta Chi, I would like to take this opportunity to comment on the recent incident between brothers of my house and Kappa Kappa Gamma and the subsequent publicity it has received. It would be wrong of me to try to justify or downplay this situation, and that is not my intention.
First of all, I would like to apologize on behalf of Theta Delt to the women involved for the way they were made to feel through the actions undertaken by certain members of our organization. Their behavior was entirely inexcusable. It is in no way condoned by Theta Delt, nor will anything like it be tolerated by the leadership of our organization. All the women of Dartmouth deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.
Secondly, I would like to approach the idea that Theta Delt, as a single entity, approved of and was responsible for this incident. It should be made clear that we as a house do not approve of such behavior. This important distinction was the subject of Laurel Peak's column in The Dartmouth ("Questions for Theta Delt," Aug.7), which stated, "Kappas were harassed by Theta Delt; this is not debatable." Unfortunately, this line gives the untruthful implication that all of Theta Delt was to blame, when, in actuality, Theta Delts were to blame. A small group of brothers acted in an impermissible manner during the incident, and their actions were in no way representative of the characteristics that the diverse brotherhood of Theta Delt wishes to embody.
Plenty of people have been quick to blame this incident on the organization, the fraternity system, Dartmouth as a whole, the male gender et cetera. First, choosing to smear Theta Delt may give a temporary veneer that the problem has been solved, but it will not provide the necessary solutions to any overarching gender-relation problems. Theta Delt would be at fault if we refused to respond to the situation in an appropriate manner, but from conversations I have had with Amanda Young and Abby Reed, Kappa's Summer term and year-round presidents respectively, it appears that a majority of the girls in Kappa have been satisfied with our house's immediate reaction to the incident thus far. That being said, we are handling the assessment of the accountability of those responsible internally, and as a house we have begun working with other sororities on joint programming concerning gender issues at Dartmouth.
Lastly, I want to clarify a part of the initial article that particularly caught my eye. In speaking with Young and this summer's Theta Delt President Ben Beisswinger, I have gathered that certain parts of the article were spun to make the event seem more dramatic than it actually was. In particular, the first article ("Kappas accuse Theta Delt of harassment," Aug. 3)referenced the alleged 2004 Tri-Delt incident without noting that nothing came of these allegations after a formal investigation by Judicial Affairs found Theta Delt "not responsible" for the matters at hand.
In no way do I want to detract from the severity of this situation, but I would like it to be considered as the uncharacteristic -- albeit completely unjustifiable -- actions of a few individuals, not of Theta Delta Chi or the Greek system as a whole.
Regardless, we accept full responsibility for our brothers' actions, and it is our hope that everyone understands the sincerity of our apology in considering our words and subsequent response.
