[jefflee108]

I am a member of Stanford's Phi Kappa Psi chapter, eat every day at the Tri-Delta house, and was present and lived in the dorm in which the incident in question occurred. Now that the administration has handed down what will hopefully be the final word on this matter, the Tri-Deltas are hoping to close this painful chapter in their lives and move on better and stronger for the experience. As a friend of the sorority, I felt compelled to respond to this thread.

The so-called "hazing" has been blown completely out of proportion by the campus press and judicial affairs. As XOMichelle pointed out, a feminist studies major at Stanford wrote an editorial which should very well have been the basis of the administration's handling of the incident. I'm going to quote from Jane Nevins here:

"A woman goes to the police and reports a sexual assault. She expects to be vindicated and receive help, but instead she is treated with the worst-case scenario. No sexual assault charges are filed and, worse, because she reported the incident, four of her sorority sisters are taken to court and charged with providing alcohol to minors, and their names are put in The Daily. The way this case was handled will not encourage other people to report sexual assaults on campus because, as a result of this pledge coming forward, her friends were punished and the police did not take action to address the sexual assault. "

That paragraph goes to the heart of what I find disturbing about the way this case has progressed. Some additional points I feel should be made to the public at large reading this board:

1. No one is contesting the legality of alcohol being provided to minors, but that issue has been completely inflated out of proportion to the more serious one at hand.

2. Tri-Delta complied fully and honestly with the numerous investigations. Throughout this trying experience, I have seen firsthand how the girls have handled themselves maturely and admirably in facing numerous interviews asking them what happened on a single night almost an entire YEAR ago.

3. There has not been a culture of drinking in Tri-Delta at Stanford, let alone one that encourages events such as this at pledging.

4. This was an isolated and by the sorority's standards, extremely egregious incident. It by no way reflects anything of the house itself or the character that has been perpetuated over the past few years. Members in Tri-Delta care for each other to a degree which can only be compared to genuine sisterhood.

5. And finally, let me say that Stanford's Tri-Delta chapter has been through A LOT this year. They lost a sister to terminal illness, have been barred from doing most of the social and philanthropic (other than the charity auction this weekend) activities which bond pledge classes together, and have otherwise suffered from an inordinate amount of negative publicity. This sorority was regarded as the "model chapter" by the University for many years and, this particular event aside, still is. Yet one must question the fairness of using such sensational headlines as "Tri-Delta placed on suspension" (implying far greater penalties than ALCOHOL suspension) on the front of, no less, the Parent's Day edition of the Stanford Daily paper; furthermore, an article about the auction which the sorority had carefully planned for months ahead was literally sandwiched within the main article, making it appear that the auction was being put on for remedial purposes.

I am in no way defending the actions of the individuals who have since been punished by the chapter, the University, and the national organization. I am, however, defending the chapter's character here. Regarding the comment "their National sees this as a MAJOR wake up call and will straighten the chapter out"-the national organization has already instituted severe penalties, but the chapter does NOT need straightening out. At some point, a distinction must be drawn between the organization and the individual. The chapter is run admirably, efficiently, and competently. I regard it as a model for my own fraternity and for many of the other GLOs at Stanford.

No organization is so perfect that it can police the activities of all its members all the time. But Tri-Delta has been a model in so many ways, and continues to be, and I firmly believe that the contributions of some 60+ talented individuals to Stanford outweighs the reckless behavior of 3 or 4.