To the Editor:
A recent wave of negative news about fraternity life has some pundits proposing draconian solutions that would undermine the freedom of association rights and the educational experience of 800,000 other students nationwide. Some critics even seek to revoke the tax-exempt status of fraternities and sororities. We think the pundits are wrong. The merits of the fraternity experience far outweigh the damaging acts carried out by a handful of students whose actions undermine the reputations of our organizations.
Membership in Greek life is at an all-time high because the experience is valuable, both for the students who join and the communities they serve. Fraternities and sororities offer premier leadership, social, and philanthropic experience on campus to a growing number of students. Far from the perception of “anything goes,” Greek organizations teach timeless values, expect high standards for conduct, and hold students accountable. Our members are more likely to stay in school, graduate on time, be active on campus, give back to the community, and be happy with their career choices.
In comparison to the thousands of daily success stories that go unreported in fraternity and sorority life, there is incredible scrutiny of our shortcomings. So let us make this perfectly clear: We absolutely reject any racist, sexist, or dangerous acts committed by members, particularly those recently committed by a few fraternity members at the University of Oklahoma, Penn State, and a handful of other locations. Such actions are incongruent with our expectations and policies concerning human dignity. The deplorable actions of a few compromise the good name of hundreds of thousands of our members who strive to live up to their organizations’ values. The individual chapters where those events took place were immediately closed, a visible display that the actions of a few were intolerable inside the fraternity and sorority community. Our national organizations are studying those cases and will continue our work to prevent further such incidents in the future.
The notion that fraternity or sorority life is racist or sexist is absurd. We do not discriminate based on race, creed, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation.
Fraternities and sororities are an easy target based on decades of Hollywood — and public — stereotypes. And these are amplified by cases where our members misbehave. Like all human beings, students will occasionally fail to meet the standards of our organizations. We intend for those failings to become teachable moments for students. Pundits are wrong to turn isolated mistakes made by individuals into wholesale indictments of fraternal organizations that have been vital parts of the higher-education system for more than 150 years. We are in the business of helping students grow, which means spending time correcting mistakes instead of condemning the entire system.
Jean Mrasek
Chairman
National Panhellenic Conference
Peter Smithhisler
President and CEO
North-American Interfraternity Conference
Sarah Lindsay
President
Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee