Quote:
Originally posted by BigJ
You must seem to overlook the fact that this was pubilshed during fraternity rush. Consider a freshman reading this column. While no specific houses were named, I'm sure Dan and his fellow Betas would be more than happy to match the stereotypes, whether true or not, to the houses.
This not only hurts the other fraternities in that aspect, but all GLO's because most people outside the system don't differentiate between Beta, SAE, Delt, FIJI, Kappa Sig, etc...
Its unfortunate he doesn't live up to the gentelmanly tradition he claims to do.
|
Wow. At the risk of sounding like I actually have any energy at all about this story, I have to respond to that...and i hate to do that, b/c I always end up writing a novel. I'm not overlooking the fact that this was published during rush. I have read blatantly anti-Greek op-eds in student newspapers from all over the country (thanks to Hoosier, of course) that were published before, during & after rush. I was simply commenting that I thought his tactic was kind of clever, and different from what we usually see this time of year--good ol' fashioned Greek Hate w/all of the trimmings. This story ended with what I read as a positive if true-to-life spin which I wasn't expecting when I started to read it. I assume you are a student at Mr. McGuire's school, so you know more about whether the parallels he draws in his op-ed piece are truly fitting to the fraternities on your campus. If you have reason to believe that this article is and attempt by the Betas to smear the other fraternities on campus, then you are right-the article was a mistake & something they should be ashamed of.
My comments are obviously from an unbiased outsider, so feel free to disagree with me. I am not a freshman or a guy, but when I entered college, I was very much under the impression that all GLOs hazed, all fraternity men were out for one thing and one thing only, and that nothing mattered but parties & booze. Let's assume he has no ulterior motives, for a moment, other than to creatively dispel some of the myths of fraternity rush.
This is only an opinion, which I am entitled to have, and I think we can respectfully agree to disagree. I think the guy might have realized that there were people out there who were not going to willingly read an op-ed about Greek life that did not bash fraternities (including freshman men who may be undecided or totally against going through rush) . The way he did it, he drew them in with something extreme & ridiculous (the FRI & it's variations...of course, I assume it's extreme & ridiculous-I wouldn't know personally). Then he pointed out that that was not, in fact how rush was conducted. So what if he pointed out that some groups might bid anyone who walks through the door, and other groups might pick guys based solely on their appearance? Is this untrue? I know it's true of the campus where I went to school, but the groups who selected their members based on character, mutual interests & ideals far outweighed the extremes mentioned in his article.
Maybe I'm naive--I would hope a freshman man reading this article would take it for what it is--an opinion piece...and then perhaps be motivated to learn more (or use it to line the birdcage). To me, his mentioning the name of his fraternity was simply to lend some credibility to his assertion that he does have first hand knowledge of what a fraternity brotherhood should be. I would have a problem, if I was a fraternity man on campus, with the potential for that one line to give my house extra P.R. over the other houses....
You are clearly offended by what he wrote, and since you are more aware of the true atmosphere on your campus than I, I totally respect your feelings & concerns. Did he take a risk in writing it the way he did? Yes. Could it be detrimental to recruitment? I guess that remains to be seen, but I guess it's possible. Either way, I hope the article doesn't have the effect you fear, and I can honestly say, I'd rather see this story than the typical "fraternity guys are all sexist, racist sheep who have whacked our priorities and must have a beer IV on constant drip to make it through the day" drivel written by closed minded GDI's that most student newspapers publish this time of year....
Again, my only reason for commenting was because I was a little shocked by his tactic & almost blew it off b/c I didn't want to read more GLO bashing...who knows how it will affect non-Greek students? I hope you aren't offended by my thoughts on the topic...if my take on his intentions were wrong, well, it wouldn't be the first time....