Schultz: A Brother’s Perspective
By Sean Schultz, Guest Columnist
Published on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I’ll admit it. I feel vilified.
I’ve never learned as much about myself as I have these past two weeks. I’m a fraternity man, so evidently I tell my brothers to “either let women upstairs or not depending on [their] level of ‘f*ckability.’” In my fraternity, no girls will get served alcohol “until all the prettier girls have gotten their beer,” a very real reminder of the power structure in which I revel. Apparently I demand, “Show us your tits!” and roar with laughter as I grab another beer. These are quotations pulled from a speech by Dani Levin, the previous chair of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault, at the Symposium on Sexual Assault describing the actions of fraternity men on this campus.
Read between the lines — I’m not like this, and neither are most fraternity men on this campus. Yet according to Levin, this culture of dependency is the result of the “nature of the system.” To be clear, I applaud her tremendous efforts and those of the Symposium organizers to spark conversations about sexual assault on campus. I take issue, however, with the generalizations that have been applied broadly to the fraternity system as a whole. On a Friday night, when I hear a man in a basement drunkenly proclaim, “Be real, all women are whores or sluts,” I know there is hard work to be done. Opponents of “fraternity culture” aren’t swinging at empty air. But while I believe reform is necessary and I welcome it, that doesn’t make it any less painful when I am lumped together with the idiots spouting misogyny.
Andrew Lohse’s allegations of hazing (“Telling the Truth,” Jan. 25) fomented a wave of people crying, “I told you so” and, “We know what you do” at every fraternity man on campus. Last Saturday, the SPCSA painted fraternity men across campus with what I felt was an overly broad brush that left no room for positive fraternity experiences. From both incidents, I’ve felt forced into a defensive position, pigeonholed as a “fraternity man” complicit in all related crimes. In the discussions of sexual assault and hazing, I’ve seen fraternity men lumped together in a single category and given no wiggle room.
We’re not all the horrific individuals that Lohse and Levin have described. As a fraternity president, I’ve talked at length to my fellow brothers about ensuring that we are accountable for what goes on within our walls. We’ve discussed how, by becoming a brother, you assume individual responsibility to take action when you see or hear misogyny, racism or anything that deviates from basic respect that would be unbecoming of the house and our individual characters. There is an incredible diversity of personal experiences on this campus and within every organization. To hear people speak in blanket terms about how fraternities operate, how they think and what attitudes and cultures they support is upsetting. I see here precisely the “othering” that Levin accuses fraternities of inculcating during pledge term. I’ve spent much time in such conversations, not in refuting the all-too-real and devastatingly disillusioning twin demons of hazing and sexual assault on campus, but in introducing nuance and breaking down a depiction of fraternities as a monolithic entity. Horrible things happen in fraternities at times — this must be acknowledged. But those events are the worst perversion of the fraternal mission. To generalize based on the behavior of a violent minority mischaracterizes the experiences and actions of the majority.
Evils such as hazing and sexual assault exist on this campus, and we must stamp them out. However, it is highly reductive to think that razing fraternities to the ground will wholly or even mostly ameliorate campus ills. Hazing and sexual assault do not come interminably bound to the fraternity package. They exist within our structure as it stands, but it is not destined to be forever and always thus. We men can suck these poisons from beneath our skin and refocus on the foundations of our organizations.
An old fraternity advisor once told me what he saw as a fraternity’s purpose: To make men better. Here seems to me to be the crux of the matter — are we serving this end well? I know that there are many men across campus working to repair perversities in their midst. They know sexual violation causes immense pain and trauma. They know the wastefulness of frivolously breaking down pledges. And they act responsibly on their power as close friends to build strong character within their brothers. Furthermore, they realize that pledge term can be a transformative period for sophomores and use it to instill strong positive values. When you put men between the ages of 17 and 22 together in a single space for three years, they can produce friendships richer than most they will form at any other point in their lives.
To all those with minds prejudiced against the very fraternity system itself: Please understand the fractured nature of “fraternity culture” and the impossibility of accuracy when generalizing across 15 houses and as many dozens of men. Understand that fraternities really can be a powerful force for good. We are not evil by affiliation. We are your friends, confidantes, classmates and significant others. Do not cast us aside categorically in one grimy bag labeled “frat.” One-sided anti-fraternity rhetoric does little to coax engagement and does much to create an “us vs. them” mentality without allowances for the good men in fraternities who are already working or willing to work to eradicate deep-rooted problems. Many men are listening and want to quash the deep troubles we see. Let’s work together to prevent women from suffering and pledges from traumatic hazing.
I encourage men to have a critical conversation today about the realities of sexual assault and hazing. We do not sell short the value of our organizations by discussing their flaws and ways to remedy them. Fraternity men cannot turn a blind eye to the abuses of our brothers, for in doing so we undermine the responsibility we have to learn, grow and improve. After all, bettering ourselves and others is what fraternities are about in their brightest moments.
Sean Schultz ’12 is the president of Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity. He is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
TL;DR
While it certainly is true that not all “fraternity boys” are “bad”, by electing to participate in a system of hegemony and exclusion that – as you point out – fosters and facilitates pathological and prejudiced behaviors, you are consciously aligning yourself with the policy, perspective, and perception of the “Fraternal order”.
You are a part of a system that defines, in almost all aspects, life on campus – a system that resists any change in the status quo, and a system that precludes all attempts to cultivate an alternative space on campus.
The criticism and outcry ensuing from recent events is natural in the context of such an entity. To insist on the continuation of the system, in addition to empathy for its participants is sheer hypocrisy.
You can’t have it both ways (even though we know you want it).
By Emery S. Coxe ‘12 on Feb 7 | 4:06 am
Summary: Even though most of us haze, some of us don’t, so be nuanced in your views and give us a break.
Sean, how about admitting there is a lot more wrong these days with the frats, even if there are some things that are right.
By Anonymous on Feb 7 | 7:16 am
Sean – Don’t worry. You’re off the hook. But talk is cheap. Do something.
By DartBored on Feb 7 | 9:14 am
Has anyone seen or heard from President Jim Kim on this issue? I think we might need to start a search party.
By The Real Question on Feb 7 | 9:41 am
It’s quite unfortunate that the good work that fraternities do is overshadowed by a couple hours worth of gross activity at one place. Sean is right that the Greek system makes men better. It’s a true growing and learning experience. It’s an opportunity to become more confident, more sociable, more comfortable in your own skin and learn alot about yourself. An opportunity to look up to role models, learn about leadership, solve problems, to have shared experiences, to drive each other to succeed. Many Dartmouth guys say they learned more from their fraternity experience than they did from academics. And it’s one of the big reasons Dartmouth grads are so well equipped to hit the real world.
By ‘12 on Feb 7 | 10:21 am
Emery- you’ve missed the point. Schultz is pointing out that in its core values, the fraternal order was never meant for pathological or prejudiced behaviors. While unfortunately it is true that bad things do happen, that behavior is a perversion of mankind and a perversion of the mission of the frat stated above: “to make men better.”
His perspective is infinitely valuable because it is aligned with the SPCSA, if they’ll have him. If Greeks like Schultz are trying to have a conversation with the SPCSA, then we should be happy and run with it! It does no good for non-Greeks to bash Greeks, just like it does no good for Greeks to alienate “gdi’s.”
The frats are never going to be razed to the ground, but the people within them are real humans who are, just like all other humans, capable of affecting the world they live in for the better.
By go Schultz on Feb 7 | 11:22 am
“Emery” and “Anonymous (7:16),”
I’ve been waiting for this article to be written. The “criticism and outcry” that you describe is based off of allegations that so far have not had any evidence at all back them up. In light of that I don’t feel so bad about ignoring it. As for me, I don’t at all look down upon someone who chooses to be unaffiliated, or is in another house. On the contrary, I welcome them into my basement, pay for their alcohol, and clean up the cups they throw on the floor when they are done. I fought against sexual assault and harmful hazing before I rushed and I still do. But through affiliation I have met and bonded with many great guys – now many of my best friends. I’ve also interacted with entirely new groups of girls through tails. Affiliation offers a chance to expand your social circle, to have a place to hang out and play pong, and to create a lifelong bond with your brothers. When you say that “more is wrong than right” with the fraternity system, you just seem incapable of looking past your own perspective. Those massive benefits are not benefiting YOU because you did not elect to be part of the system. You were free to. This is not “exclusive” – there are no conditions for membership other than the approval of those who you wish to be brothers/sisters with. And the “hegemony” you speak of – college kids are going to party. Fraternities provide a place to drink and party for free and without the burden of cleanup. That’s why people come. If you or anyone else wants to buy alcohol, throw a party in their dorm or apartment, and clean up afterwards, do so! But don’t demonize and thus make undue enemies of a large and diverse section of the student body. It’s as childish and harmful to the community as the supposed evils of the Greek system.
By Anonymous on Feb 7 | 12:56 pm
No one denies that there are some members of the fraternity system who take things too far. Lashing out against the whole system merely distracts everyone from the addressing the real problems. The real problems are:
Hazing—Hazing as a whole has taken on a new meaning defined as a completely negative activity—let’s start to reexamine what assumptions we are making. As Sean mentioned, “hazing” can be both positive and negative, and really depends on how a greek house chooses to go about pledge term. Let’s work to promote activities that bond us and build character and to eliminate humiliating rituals.
Sexual Assault—our community assumes that sexual assault is becoming more prevalent. Does this mean our greek societies and our men have really become more moral abhorrent? If so let’s make this an all girls school then, or screen for morally good guys to let into Dartmouth. OR is “sexual assault” being used as a way to voice broader objections against the greek system as a whole by some individuals.
3.Binge Drinking—again our community assumes that binge drinking is becoming more prevalent than 20 years ago. Where are the statistics? Let’s go to stinson’s and look for keystone sales in time series data. If indeed Dartmouth Students are drinking much more than before, let’s not blame the symptom of the problem—the fraternities that hand out alcohol—but the underlying reasons why students are drinking more. Lack of alternative social spaces? Let’s create ones that actually appeal to people. Are people too awkward to interact without alcohol? No policy change can change the character of a person.
The greek system will always have flaws, especially when the community’s expectations/values related to greek life are always changing. Instead denouncing the greek system, why not work together to better 1. clearly define expectations 2. plot out a strategy for change that bridges differences 3. mobility the student body to implement the changes
By William H. Chan on Feb 7 | 1:29 pm
Good points are brought up by the article.
As a fraternity brother who has also gone to the SPCSA’s Symposium on Sexual Assault, I strongly agree with Schultz’s assessment that SPCSA is taking a polarizing and thus ineffective stance on sexual assault. As a results-oriented organization, shouldn’t SPCSA seek to incorporate the Greek system in its conversations and solution crafting, since sexual assault occurs in, amongst other places, fraternity settings? Because, quite frankly, as outsiders of the fraternity system seeking to change something that happens within it, they are ineffective. As Sean has shown, Greek leaders are more than willing to on sexual assault, but because of rhetoric such as Levin’s, the Greek system and these “problem solvers” are continually being driven apart. Levin depicted the fraternity system was as a well-oiled sexual assault machine, supported monetarily and legally by nefarious fraternity alumni. This is outright false and inflammatory. I came to SPCSA symposium on my own initiative because this issue concerns me and I want to contribute, but left feeling like Sean said at the beginning of the article.
By Stop this nonsense, SPCSA on Feb 7 | 3:37 pm
Good points are brought up by the article.
As a fraternity brother who has also gone to the SPCSA’s Symposium on Sexual Assault, I strongly agree with Schultz’s assessment that SPCSA is taking a polarizing and thus ineffective stance on sexual assault. As a results-oriented organization, shouldn’t SPCSA seek to incorporate the Greek system in its conversations and solution crafting, since sexual assault occurs in, amongst other places, fraternity settings? Because, quite frankly, as outsiders of the fraternity system seeking to change something that happens within it, they are ineffective. As Sean has shown, Greek leaders are more than willing to on sexual assault, but because of rhetoric such as Levin’s, the Greek system and these “problem solvers” are continually being driven apart. Levin depicted the fraternity system was as a well-oiled sexual assault machine, supported monetarily and legally by nefarious fraternity alumni. This is outright false and inflammatory. I came to SPCSA symposium on my own initiative because this issue concerns me and I want to contribute, but left feeling like Sean said at the beginning of the article.
By Stop this nonsense, SPCSA on Feb 7 | 3:37 pm
Has the D reached out to get Jim Kim’s comment on the hazing situation? As a public health expert I’m sure he has some interesting comments!!!
By Jess on Feb 7 | 3:58 pm
What you write: “When I hear a man in a basement drunkenly proclaim, “Be real, all women are whores or sluts,” I know there is hard work to be done. Opponents of “fraternity culture” aren’t swinging at empty air.”
What I read: “When I hear unacceptable misogyny spoken by my own brothers, I know it’s wrong and think maybe someone else should do something about it. It must be tough for those who haven’t accepted misogyny as a social norm.”
Write another article when you care about this community’s problems as much as you care about your public image.
By ‘13 Coed on Feb 7 | 5:08 pm
Misogyny and sexual assault are problems everywhere. They are problems on college campuses with and without fraternities. Scapegoating the fraternities as the source of sexual assault on campus is a shortsighted, unsustainable solution to a very serious issue. Instead of targeting fraternities, fraternity brothers, and assuming that more is wrong with them than right (which breeds a defensive, apathetic attitude towards the issue by frat bros), we use the fraternities and fraternity brothers as resources to reduce and eliminate the rape culture on campus. We could use them to make rapists and predators feel uncomfortable and unwanted. This may be an idealist view, but I think it is more conducive to making progress than ostracizing a large portion of the student body. I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but most fraternity brothers think rape is horrible. With their help, we have the potential to eliminate the rape culture on this campus. We could lead the way for other colleges by using the fraternity system rather than shunning all of its members.
By Anonymous on Feb 7 | 5:12 pm
@Emery S. Coxe ‘12
Well if we follow your plan and get rid of frats, the whole campus will soon be full of people who take themselves as seriously as you do! As Anonymous 12:56 PM pointed out, there is no conspiracy to maintain hegemony in the mind of a teenager who rushes a frat. They are just looking to hang out and party and enjoy their college experience. Unfortunately this does not fit into your narrative of anachronistic frats excluding the other and destroying alternative social spaces by hijacking discourse. Maybe you should get off that high horse, put down that copy of Discipline and Punish, and go play pong for a little bit. In fact go play at Chi Gam with Sean. He would be more than happy to welcome you, and anyone else at Dartmouth, affiliated or not, into his basement.
By Anonymous on Feb 7 | 5:54 pm
And, as we move into the comments section, the same divisive rhetoric gets used by both sides.
To start, Schultz has taken the quotations out of context. Levin never said that “All fratboys are like this,” but, “That this is a thing that happens in any frat ever is a problem, and that other people who know that it’s wrong stand around and do nothing is a problem.” I’m affiliated (granted, in a co-ed, so many people give my house a pass when discussing sexual assault within the Greek system), and I feel that the SPCSA did a good job being diplomatic throughout the symposium, with the only thing being at all inflammatory being Levin’s speech. Hell, all three of the male presenters were affiliated (and it should strike people as off that of the large number of people, both faculty and students, that presented, only three were men, and two of those men are openly gay).
The problem of sexual assault is primarily within the Greek system because the alcohol on this campus is primarily served in Greek houses. Alcohol is involved in most sexual assaults, and someone looking in can often see that something is amiss with a situation that is going to lead to sexual assault (A guy has cornered a girl and/or is giving her a lot of alcohol very quickly, a guy tries to leave with a girl who is clearly much, much more drunk than him, etc). That said, it is the moral responsibility of the brothers in the house to try to prevent that assault from happening. That the things that Levin said would happen at any house (and they do happen at some houses, but not most) is a problem, and the leaders of houses that do not engage in such behavior should be much more outspoken in trying to prevent sexual assault.
At the end of the day, everyone needs to do more to stop sexual assault, especially the hosts of the parties that provide the alcohol that enables sexual assault. One should not feel vilified for being asked to intervene in situations where sexual assault will happen, or to call out one’s brothers who engage in behavior/language that is conducive to maintaining sexual assault.
By Van Melikian on Feb 7 | 10:28 pm
Overarching generalizations aren’t useful – but I think it’s misleading to write as though the majority of frat brothers are “good guys.” A minority of frat brothers are openly misogynistic, another small minority are willing to do something about this unfortunate group of people, and the majority sit by passively ignoring the situation. How many bros confronted the brother who claimed all girls were sluts? Many have mentioned that “outsiders” are ineffective – ok, but that lands the responsibility for addressing an admitted problem (at least in this article) squarely on the shoulders of the frats.
By A. on Feb 8 | 1:29 am
It’s time for everyone to calm down.
Hazing – Sure it happens. It’s generally just good fun. Most of it happens when people are really drunk, so they can’t be blamed if some weird stuff goes on. It’s not really dangerous. People vomit all the time when they drink too much. And no one really drinks vomit. That’s an exaggeration. People get naked, but what’s wrong with that? Hazing promotes brotherhood. Sipping a little beer that has run through a brother’s butt crack could lead to a job in I-banking.
Sexual assault – Frats pay for the beer. If you don’t want to get laid, stay in your dorm. Try having a party there. If it weren’t for frats, nobody would want to go to Dartmouth.
Sure, there are areas for improvement, but don’t expect the frats to take the lead. The system has worked just fine for decades. (I personally have learned more in my frat than in the classroom.) It’s time for others to stop whining and do something. Even Jim Kim doesn’t care about this. Enough, please.
By Social Chair, Stigma Psi on Feb 8 | 9:20 am
Continue the lip service.
By Dick 08 on Feb 8 | 4:56 pm
Why is Kim so quiet? Is he hoping this will blow over? Or is he winding up for a big answer? I bet the former. That’s what Spalding and Kalish would advise.
By DartBored on Feb 8 | 8:27 pm
The key argument is that sexual assault is a huge problem on all college campuses, both those with and without Greek organizations. Mass alcohol consumption is probably the cause, not Greek letters over the door.
By Anonymous on Feb 9 | 3:53 pm