In the spring of 1992, in response to the overused slogan "Frats Rape," the organization Greeks Against Rape began to take shape. Several interested Greeks wished to counter the misconception that Greek houses (especially fraternities) encourage sexual assault and they formed GAR with the purpose of establishing an intra-Greek network of education and communication.
In the year that followed, the overwhelming argument put forth against the organization was that GAR was simply a bunch of Greeks sitting around eating pizza and laughing about sexual assault under the guise of being a productive organization. Sadly enough, this argument wasn't completely off the mark. GAR did indeed start out as a very symbolic organization with lofty goals but low participation and interest.
Many Greek organizations did not wish to be involved in a group such as GAR, which put forth few substantive ideas. In addition, GAR requested $30 in dues from each Greek house. Naturally, this made houses even less interested and thus membership in GAR was abysmal.
In the summer of '93, GAR's lack of organization led the Interfraternity Council to reject GAR's request for more money and a series of attacks on the fraternities ensued. Some said the IFC represented a group of misogynist fools who were more concerned with beer money than aiding an organization such as GAR.
So because GAR was a "symbolism over substance" type of organization, lots of problems followed. The group accomplished very little while causing even more attacks on the Greek system due to the lack of organization. In other words, the Greeks against rape defeated their own purpose.
This term, GAR got a tune-up. The organization adopted a new name - Sexual Awareness through Greek Education - and embarked on a new, more substantive path. Under cochairs Doug Scott '94 and Aliza Waksal '96, what was the troubled GAR is now an organization with a clear direction and responsible goals.
I attended a SAGE meeting early this week and it was clear that rather than being consumed by defensive or guilt-ridden attitudes, the representatives and cochairs of SAGE are indeed committed to real change. After witnessing GAR's follies this summer, I was pleasantly surprised by the substantive discussions and intriguing ideas which surfaced at the meeting.
The group is currently in the process of creating a program by which a 3-person committee of SAGE members would be able to keep tabs on incidents of sexual assault in Greek houses on campus. Anyone who wishes to report an incident that happened to them or to a friend can fill out an anonymous form which will be seen by the 3-person committee. The committee will not pass judgment on any houses, nor will it even be involved with any punitive measures.
Rather, it will serve to notify Greek organizations of incidents that happen in their houses so that the brothers or sisters can make necessary changes to prevent future incidents from occurring.
In addition, SAGE will continue to sponsor programming for pledges of all Greek houses that will help to educate them about sexual assault and rape and what an individual member of a Greek organization can do to stop a bad situation before it starts. This programming will include forums in which two houses will have hypothetical situations presented to them and members of both organizations will discuss what they could have done to remedy the particular situations.
Cochair Doug Scott said that SAGE would ideally like to "use the organizational ability of Greek houses to educate people."
It is easy to see what a great resource SAGE can be to promote discussion and awareness of sexual assault and rape. Each Greek house will be able to draw from SAGE's hard work and spread the knowledge its SAGE representative has gained to the rest of its membership. In addition, the anonymous letter program will help members of larger houses be more aware of what is going on behind closed doors in their organizations.
Hopefully, while SAGE works within the Greek system, people will realize that sexual assault is not solely a Greek problem. So much anti-Greek propaganda circulates on campus that sometimes we are led to believe that someone wearing a sweatshirt with Greek letters is automatically a deviant. The fact of the matter is that in any situation, Greek or not, where hundreds of people are drinking beer at a large party, something is bound to erupt every so often.
A convincing notion which comes out of SAGE's example is that our Greek system has tremendous possibilities. But for those possibilities to manifest themselves in the form of positive changes, the entire system must be unified. Even with its positive efforts, SAGE has not attracted the coed or African-American houses into its fold. Greeks are Greeks, whether they are male, female or coed, and they all should realize that to preserve the system, they must achieve some sort of solidarity. SAGE is a good place to start.
