There are many kind and wonderful people in sororities and fraternities. Some of my close friends are in Greek life. My girlfriend (hi, babe) ran for president of her sorority last year. My roommate participates in an academic fraternity and has had glowing things to say. This is a criticism of a system. Whether or not that criticism extends to the people who support the system is up to interpretation.

Queers bash back, but not against one another. When a member of a marginalized community feels discriminated against, showing them 600 soup cans will not fix their issue — that is a strawman argument. It is no one’s place to hear the discomfort of a person and attempt to invalidate it with numbers about community service. Such an action is unwarranted and unjust, especially considering the history of fraternities and queer people. What good is community service when you are not kind to the community in the first place?

I am delighted to hear that students at Shippensburg University are surrounded by members of Greek life who accept and uplift different identities and I hope they inspire more people with their actions. Does their acceptance extend to action or are they willing to stand by so long as they remain unthreatened by the space they inhabit? Silence toward discrimination is compliance and fraternities tend to lose their voices when a minority has a poor experience.

Members of Greek life need to come to terms with the fact that there is no magic bucket they can throw enough money into to be exempt from their discrimination. It is baked into the foundations of many groups and a “fact” of the lives they have chosen. Fraternities and sororities for people of color are relatively new in the timeline of Greek life. The first fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, formed in 1776. Alpha Kappa Nu, the first black fraternity, wouldn’t come into being for another 127 years.

Think for a moment about how much money flows through a fraternity in 127 years. Those 127 years provide an advantage to white fraternities to appear more reputable and well-known within their communities. If we follow that advantageous money, where does it go? Delta Zeta was recently reported as having raised over $220 for an animal shelter and has an annual fee of $261.50 per member. Now, how much of that money goes back to the community, and how much goes to advertising how much they help the community?

If someone feels personally victimized and attacked by the criticism of a system that serves as one of the largest discriminators I have seen on campus, it may be time to think about the “why.” My question is not “Why are you discriminating?” Instead, I ask: “Why are you so quick to defend a system that works against the posted ideals of the group members?” Why should the good experiences of one person outweigh the experiences of groups for the past 247 years? The only answer is that they should not. It is the job of all true allies to criticize and work toward the betterment of Greek life.

I would highly encourage any member of a fraternity interested in a perspective of queerness within a fraternity to read “Out of the Closet and on to Fraternity Row: An Ethnographic Study of Heterosexism and Homophobia in a College Fraternity Community” by Grahaeme Andrew Hesp. This dissertation is a lengthy but powerful statement on the treatment gay fraternity brothers commonly face on campus, what they sacrifice to keep the peace, and potential solutions.

Greek life has great power and potential to benefit Shippensburg University, and their efforts to improve the area are appreciated. With that said, the recently published philosophy of The Slate holds true. Do good things, and we’ll report good things; do bad things, and we’ll report bad things. Try to lampshade bad things with the good things, and you will alienate more members of various communities than you started with. Or, more dangerously, you might even make one of those members mad enough to write an editorial.

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