To the Editor:
I feel the compulsion to speak about the showing of the Hell Night video in the lounge of Topliff Hall Wednesday night. As a member of a fraternity, I have mixed feelings about the presentation.
The grievance I have with the affair is that it slipped off track. It lost its original, publicized focus: the peculiarities of initiation rights in society. Instead, it became a battleground of pro- and anti- Greek voices fighting over the moral and ethical rights of the fraternity system. The moderators of the event did not use a strong enough voice to stop the sidetracked discussion. The student body came with its own agenda and the Greeks and their opponents would not stop arguing.
There was no "analysis" of the tape. For once on this campus can there be a forum of true discussion and exchange of ideas between the opposite camps on the Greek issue? Why wasn't there an examination of the various other forms of initiation in our society - into sports teams and the Military Academies, or Matriculation? All of these are exactly what the discussion was supposed to be about - why were they absent?
Why is it always Greek and non-Greek? An event like this results in damage to some of the guilty and the rest of the innocent as well. Is it justice as we know it to convict 50 people, half of whom are guilty? No, we weed out the guilty via the justice system. Why then do people who adhere to the tenets of this system and live under the Constitution seem to feel that it should not apply to the Greek system?
We do not judge all criminals in a year in one all-encompassing judgement. Likewise, we should not condemn a society, institution or country in one fell swoop. There are no easy resolutions to be had on this topic, but it would be nice to see some tolerance and understanding from all parties on campus towards open discussion. Too many people carry with them all the confidence of ignorance.
JOSH MARKS '96
