In this Student Assembly Presidential election women and so-rorities have been ignored. Out of seven there has been only one female candidate in each race. Why? Is it because female candidates are subject to immediate stereotypes when they enter the race, and unfortunately can become the victims of sexual harassment as the Blitzmail incident of the last election showed?
Another issue of concern to women is the relative lack of attention paid to us in each candidate's platform. This is very apparent in one aspect of student life: the Greek system.
The so-called Greek vote means a great deal in this year's Student Assembly Presidential election. Unfortunately, the said pro-Greek candidates or those who are counting on the "Greek" vote in many cases only mean the fraternities.
It is my impression that most sorority women and many of the men and women in the coed houses did not vote for Stewart Shirasu. Therefore, the assumption that Shirasu won because of a strong Greek backing is false. The Inter- Fraternity Council does not express the opinions of the entire Greek system. The Co-ed Fraternity Sorority Council decided not to endorse a candidate for this reason.
In deciding not to endorse a specific candidate for the Presidency, we examined many issues. An important issue to us was that only one candidate actually came to speak to the council. Nicole Artzer '94 spoke to us several times about her platform and specifically about what she would do for sorority women on this campus.
Why did the other "Pro-Greek" candidates ignore us? Are the votes of 689 women not as important as the men's votes? Or did they assume that we would naturally endorse the only female candidate? If we had done that, we would not have been acting as a responsible student organization.
As I already mentioned, the Panhellenic Council has decided, after much consideration, not to endorse a candidate. Our decision not to endorse Nicole is not a rejection of her candidacy or platform. If elected, we are confident that she will work with us on important issues.
Instead we believe that every woman on this campus, whether Greek affiliated or not, has a mind of her own and should not be dictated to as for whom to vote. We feel that all women on this campus will vote for the candidate they feel best represents their interests on this campus.
I implore all women on this campus to consider what the Student Assembly has done for women in the past and what it can do for us next year. But more than that, go to the polls and vote.
Rachel Perri '94 is president of the Panhellenic Council.
