Pi Kappa Phi chapter at NC State suspended after "embarrassing, scary" book found

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge

I am growing increasingly concerned that the culture of mainly white fraternities and sororities is one that reinforces white supremacy, even in the presence of black members; that reinforces sexism and sexual violence; and fosters a sense of generational entitlement.

That's really our culture? You know this? Such blanket statements are as offensive as the crap coming out of these very few racist asshole chapters. In the SAE case, the national organization caught wind of what happened and shut that chapter down and expelled or is in the process of expelling everyone responsible. In the case of Pi Kapa Phi, as soon as their national organization was notified, the chapter was placed on suspension and is under investigation. What the hell makes you think our culture reinforces white supremacy when the actions of our national organizations when faced with isolated cases of chapters behaving badly could not possibly rationally give that appearance?

What we have is a PR problem to be sure. It is not a cultural problem. This situation is very similar to how the public perceives school violence. While it is an all time low, because of media coverage, the public perceives our schools as danger zones. In reality, we are living our values better than ever, are more diverse than ever and are successful in terms of attracting quality members. Is everything perfect? Nope. But the sky isn't falling.

[Sen's Revenge]

Originally Posted by Kevin

That's really our culture? You know this? Such blanket statements are as offensive as the crap coming out of these very few racist asshole chapters. In the SAE case, the national organization caught wind of what happened and shut that chapter down and expelled or is in the process of expelling everyone responsible. In the case of Pi Kapa Phi, as soon as their national organization was notified, the chapter was placed on suspension and is under investigation. What the hell makes you think our culture reinforces white supremacy when the actions of our national organizations when faced with isolated cases of chapters behaving badly could not possibly rationally give that appearance?

LOL.... yes, that is your culture because that is the culture of unchecked whiteness.

Be offended by that, not by me saying so.

[amIblue?]

The existing programming, while well-intended, is not effective. It's something that the men and women sit through, barely paying attention, to check off a box and go on with their lives. In other words, it's very similar to the corporate diversity/harassment/privacy bullshit that I and others in the corporate world sit through to justify HR jobs and to cover an employer's ass in the case of the shit hitting the fan. I agree that we have to change the way we are doing things in order to be effective with today's collegian.

If you don't agree that there's a cultural issue, I'm going to share what I overheard some very lovely (and I sincerely mean it) women saying this week: "I wish our chapter meetings were like the fraternity chapter meetings. All they have to do is sit around and tell stories. The person with this wildest or grossest story wins." Do I think that's all a fraternity chapter meeting involves? No. I have to believe that business gets done. But I do believe it's indicative of a problematic culture that that's what the men are putting out there to represent themselves instead of the good stuff.

I think we have to get input from these young men and women about designing what will reach them rather than subjecting them to programming developed by old people.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

I think we have to get input from these young men and women about designing what will reach them rather than subjecting them to programming developed by old people.

This! I agree with all you said, but especially this!

And I think we need to look for ways for these young men and women to take on more responsibility for holding each other accountable rather than letting that fall mainly to the older people at HQ and in positions of national leadership.