Focus on the Real Issue
By Lauren Bennett
Published on Tuesday, August 7, 2007
To the Editor:
When an event occurs such as last weeks' between Kappa Kappa Gamma and Theta Delta Chi, it gives a publication the opportunity to turn a troublesome situation into impetus for change in guy-girl dynamics at Dartmouth ("Kappas accuse Theta Delt of harassment," Aug. 3). Instead, The Dartmouth squandered the opportunity to unite the campus over the issue.
The alleged harassment of Kappa members is not the main problem. The issue is disrespect. It plagues Dartmouth women from the moment they step foot on campus. The way Kappas were spoken to Wednesday night happens all the time. Guys dish it and girls shake it off for the most part -- I know I have, because I'd rather have fun than yell at some blacked-out clown for being too insecure to address me like a normal human being.
But at some point, you can't have fun if you feel absolutely degraded for being a woman in a "man's house." It all comes down to a similar issue raised in the fall over race: people feel uncomfortable here a lot of the time.Sadly, The Dartmouth neglected to address these issues. Instead, it brought up Theta Delt's history and copied and pasted blitzes into the story. Who cares what the future of the Theta Delt–Kappa relationship is? We're getting separated but the divorce isn't finalized? And wasting the entire front page on shady details? The Dartmouth wasted a lot of space that would have been better used to write on the importance of campus gender issues and ways we can improve them.