Quote:
Originally posted by Rudey
What you and others seem to think is that just because someone has the privilege to free speech that others should sit there and take it. It might be free speech but his brothers have the right to judge him based on it, the fraternity's national office has a right to evaluate whether the chapter represents their ideals, and potential members have the option of choosing whether to join...all parties exercising their freedoms with a reaction to the original expression.
-Rudey
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Exactly the point that I was trying to get at, if it seemed to come out as cloudy, I apologize. I wanted to hold back on the politics involved because there are a few people (who go to my school) that frequent these boards and I didn't want to air too much.
What it comes down to is this:
Although what this brother demonstrated is free speech and expression, he did it with a flag owned by the fraternity. He did it inside of the fraternity house in front of active members and almost the entire pledge/new member class (which I left out earlier).
We have had three new members drop because of this single incident and another considering to drop. That's almost 25% of the pledge class (in a time when we are trying to rebuild ourselves and continue on down a new path - nationalization).
I had a talk with one of the guys who dropped and he said he felt threatend by the incident and that he didn't feel safe being in the fraternity house or around that member and the other one that he fought with. He said he also didn't understand if what he saw was an expression of the fraternity as a whole or as a member acting alone. I told him that it wasn't a fraternal view, rather, the member speaking on behalf of himself.
I often hear the argument of "you represent yourself and your Fraternity?Sorority in many instances/places." Well, this is kind of what happened and we lost new members because of it, good guys that I truly think could have done a lot for the chapter. That in itself should be enough for expulsion, on top of the other offensive actions this brother has taken. I love him as a brother, but he has put a serious bind on us right now and he has done it in the past. Whether it is a racial issue, a free speech issue, etc., I feel that it was "the straw."
After hearing how we lost new members because of it, what do you think should be done, what would your chapter do?
***Keep in mind I am not the kind of person to want to see one of my brothers kicked out, but I personally don't know what else could be accomplished by placing him on yet another suspension***
There is always a breaking point...in every situation.
Blaine