The Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Yale University apologized on Thursday for offensive chants against women that were shouted by new recruits on Wednesday evening. The young men, blindfolded, were marched through a part of the campus where female freshmen live while shouting, “No means yes, yes means anal!,” among other inflammatory chants. The pledging ritual sparked an outcry from Yale feminists and the Yale Women’s Center and a commentary in Salon.
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When are we simply going to acknowledge the fact that these organizations are largely antithetical to the values and mission of most postsecondary institutions? Or, that the resources it takes to administer, police, and address their behaviors is criminal. Their philanthropy is simply a PR smoke screen, and the fact that predmoninanly middle-class white boys cry about needing a place to commune is laughable at best.
I guess they’re on their way to Goldman Sachs.
@bdr8y- Your comments are short-sighted and oppose existing research as to the true value of Greek-letter social organizations on campuses nation-wide, middle-class or lower-class. Since every student organization (and most students not in organizations) engages in binge drinking (primarily with no oversight), hazing (see bands and ROTC), and sexual assault (see athletics), your point holds no merit. Indeed, your ability to single out (a misspelled) “predominantly middle-class white boys” shows you base your views on cable news soundbites and a 3-sentence Chronicle blurb. As a proud alumnus of a large, national Greek-letter social organization, I stand by the value that these and other organizations provide on campuses nationwide, “predominantly” black or white, from whatever social class. Your close-mindedness is indicative of either a disgruntled faculty member, bitter administrator, or just a racist elitist. Show me your list of philanthropic activities and I’ll show you mine. Oops, there we Greeks go again!
“bdr8y” is a racist. Calling a man a “boy” is a clear intention to demean and demote them socially. Racists use this term to dress down their targets all the time.
Get over whether they’re in a fraternity or not, the behavior is disgusting. Who ever instigated the behavior should be booted out and any of the individuals that took part should be disciplined appropriately.
Hazing, be it the Greeks, a band, athletics or any other organization, has no place on a campus or in society. It’s a formalized bullying of new members. There are ways to challenge new members that would be productive without this type of behavior. I think our student associations could use some guidance about what would constitute acceptable practices and unacceptable practices.
“Greek-letter social organizations ”
Is this the latest PC euphemism?
First of all, the ill-informed writing of both the author and our beloved bdr8y are disgusting. The author’s term “pledging ritual” used in reference to the inflammatory comments only goes to show the lack of understanding of Greek organizations as a whole. Ritual, when used relating to a Greek organization, refers to the ceremony of initiation that separates non members from initiated members. Greek rituals, though slightly different in each group, are proclamations of values and ideals that members are expected to live up to before, during and after their time as an undergraduate. Rituals also usually incorporate a declaration of faith or offer a similar inclusion of religious dialogue. These rituals in NO way promote the lackluster behavior of a percentage of members on a given campus.
With regards to bdr8y, I agree with your statement that the resources it takes to police some chapters is criminal. In fact, as a Fraternity employee that travels 9 months of the year to assist our chapters, I’ve seen some of the worst Greek stereotypes imaginable. However, I’ve also seen some of the most amazing students on campus leading our chapters the way they were intended to be. These organizations represent some of the finest in undergraduate ethics, leadership and philanthropy and should not be overlooked. Indeed, some chapters are simply not up to par; an unfortunate result of poor recruitment or lacking advisory engagement. Moving forward, the DKE staff seems to have responded appropriately and in keeping with any Fraternity’s protocol for such a situation, I’m sure that this will be an opportunity for the staff as a whole to reevaluate their membership and reinvent themselves on a campus that stands to gain so much from a properly organized Greek culture.
Doesn’t making new recruits chant “no means yes” indoctrination? Wasn’t its aim to frighten women? Wouldn’t you be frightened if a band of thugs was yelling pro-rape slogans under your window –particularly since university campuses are already the locus of a statistically significant number of rapes? Ultimately, even if it doesn ‘t actually lead to rape, it surely will lead to a disparaging view of women.
As a commentator noted (appreciatively), the plege ritual separates frat members from non frat members. In this case it also separates men from women and proclaims a hierarchy where frat members are on top, other men below them, and women on the very bottom….
Hmm. Wasn’t George W. Bush a DKE? Seems like not much has changed, or been learned.
Let us not overlook the fact that the young men being hazed were also victims here – I am sure that many of them were revolted by what they were being asked to do. Which, of course, is why they were being asked to do it. This is one of those things which should not have happened for many reasons and on many levels.
Well, we all know that Yalies are barbarians.—a Princeton grad