Should Greek Orgs Speak Up or Stay Silent?
 

Currently, the issue in this country is Roe v. Wade being overturned. In visiting many of the NPC sororities' Instagram pages in particular - on innocuous and irrelevant posts - the comments are abundant, asking why an organization for women isn't condemning what occurred this past week.

The most extreme post that I saw (with ABC replacing the org's name) reads:

"3rd generation ABC, 2x chapter president, volunteer for four years - I submitted my ABC resignation yesterday due to the abysmal response from ABC I received about the pending decision. I absolutely refuse to [be] a member of a women's organization that refuses to fiercely protect women's rights."

Regardless of the issue, it seems that Greek orgs can't win. If they say nothing, it's determined that they don't care. And if they say something, some people agree and others disagree (causing social media battles, and potentially turning members away from the org for taking a stance opposite their own views), and/or what the org has said is determined to not be adequate by members who ultimately agree with the org's stance.

Do you all believe it's better for our orgs to speak up or stay silent?

I think the Greek orgs should keep their damn mouths shut on all political issues. People have widely varying opinions and there is no way a GLO will benefit from making a grand pronouncement like, as one did: "we recognize that all members will have a different stand, however, here is ours" (insert a big mistake).

How DARE an organization speak for all its members?

It seems you are damned if you do and damned if you don't unfortunately. I've seen backlash for one GLO that did come out with a "pro-choice" leaning statement, and I've seen members in my own organization criticize them for not making a pro-choice statement. Personally, I thought the email our IHQ sent out was perfect and what they needed to do. I agree with Carnation...I think they should avoid taking sides in any political debate. After all, our organizations tend to be varied, with conservatives, liberals, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists and etc, etc, etc,.

I agree with Carnation especially on this issue. If you're on one side or the other, what it comes down to is it impacts people who can get pregnant. I generally don't get super passionate about political issues but this is one that I do have strong feelings about which I will keep to myself, because honestly I am not one to debate or try and convince people to see my side.

I think for GLOs, they are in sort of a no win situation. Especially with those members that think the GLO should take a particular position.

I think in some instances GLOs should make a statement, supporting their sisters (i.e. condemning hate crimes) but I do feel like that is a completely separate issue from people's reproductive matters.

Agree 100%

I think you'd find a pretty large divergence between the NPC and the NPHC sororities. While Abortion may be out of bounds, the NPHC sororities have lived in the middle of that sort of political statements since the beginning (one of the differences in what AKA and DST state about their mutual history has to do with the participation in the early suffragette marches (and whether blacks should have been placed at the back)

Also, from the positions of the religions that they were founded by, Theta Phi Alpha on one side and Alpha Epsilon Pi and Sigma Delta Tau on the other *might* be more likely to make a comment.

Carnation hit the nail on the head. For my money, the last thing Greek orgs could opine on where all members would agree was saying 9/11 was awful.

You can’t one minute say you’re championing diversity and love and value all your members, and the next minute release a statement that would alienate or anger many of them. That’s classic white feminism. “Women should be free to do what they want and make their own choices. Oh crap, no!!! We didn’t mean like THAT.”

The difference is that the HBGLOs were specifically founded to (paraphrasing big time here) further and support the Black community.

True. But the same can be said I *think* in regard to a particular community, for the NPC sororities that I mentioned. (I agree that they are not *significantly* more likely, just somewhat)

Did NPC initiates join their group HOPING it would, or KNOWING it did, work toward one or another political point of view? I know fifty years ago I certainly did not join LMNPC group because it worked toward keeping men away from birth control methods.

NPC groups individually and as a whole are wise to both patiently observe the world and work quietly toward any necessary goals regarding their desired world. Look where quiet work, patience and perseverance got those who desired Roe v. Wade be overturned.

I’m fine with my group making no statement. Reproductive rights is a VERY emotional issue for women. People on both sides of the issue often have strong feelings for personal reasons.

I knew a restaurant owner who refused to put the news stations on in his bar section because either way, you’re alienating an estimated half of your customer base. As a service sorority, I think it’s best to focus on what services one can provide to the community with respect toward the fact that displaying strong opinions is potentially alienating to people we could serve.

While I agree that I don't want my sorority to tell what to think or how to think on any issue, I'm so proud that at least my sorority TAKES A STAND on an issue. Whether it's abortion, pride month, mental health awareness or something else, our instagram feed has substance. The vapidness of some of the NPC sororities' Instagram feeds is absolutely atrocious.

I don't believe that any of us elected our national officers to decide what side of a political issue our orgs were going to back. It seems to me that should a sorority take a political stand, it should be after polling ALL their members and voicing the side of the majority.

Hear hear!

Ours was one of supporting all our members - those celebrating this decision and those hurting from it. I think that's the approprite response.