Cornell Student Pushes Back Against Attacks on Greek Life
“I do not know a single white supremacist.”
Dylan McDevitt is a Cornell student who is tired of seeing fraternities maligned. Especially if one person does something and suddenly the whole Greek community is at fault.
He writes at the Cornell Daily Sun:
The Attacks on Greek Life Have Gone Too Far
By way of disclaimer, if you think Greek life no longer has a place on this campus, you and I are not going to agree on much. What happened two weeks ago is nothing short of tragic and abhorrent, so we can start with that, at least.
I am a proud member of the Greek community, and I have many friends who would say the same, both in my chapter and in others. I am not a white supremacist. I do not know a single white supremacist. I do not know anyone who engages in or would associate with anyone who engages in white supremacist behavior. What does this tell me? That while most of us are normal, productive members of the Cornell community, we are left answering for a very small number of people who choose to engage in unacceptable behavior. And that is okay. I recognize that Greek life and fraternities in particular have a long way to go before we are devoid of serious problems. Most people in the community would likely agree.
But let’s make sure we are clear about what happened here: a member of the Greek community was viciously attacked by a person who was unaffiliated. Psi Upsilon is not a recognized fraternity, and they are not a recognized fraternity for a reason. The Interfraternity Council is a self-governing body, and the decision to revoke that chapter’s recognition was not made without input from the leaders of our community. Effectively, their previous conduct caused them to be deemed unworthy of inclusion in our community.
To say that Greek life should not exist is not only incredibly unhelpful as far as meaningful conversations about reform are concerned, but it is a direct insult to the way of life of one-third of this student body. I have found something special in my fraternity; my participation in it has done wonders to make me a better person. You will hear quite literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of statements like that from other people. Either all these people are lying in a malicious attempt to preserve the existence of their exclusive societies, or these are organizations that make a positive impact on a lot of students.
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Comments
Most universities are at war with their students in Greek Life. My experience was as one of the very few remaining Conservative institutions on campus it is one of the top targets of the Liberal agenda.
I get the feeling that if universities didn’t have federal dollars flooding in, Greek Life would be more important.
That’s not surprising, since while they are unfortunately far from mythical, they’re close enough to it that most people will go through life without ever meeting one.
The Left wants to get rid of anything and everything that even peripherally touches upon tradition and/or masculinity. Football- out, lacrosse-out, fraternities-out, the American flag and anthem-out, the military-out, the discoverers and founders of this country-out. Try to name even one traditional group that the Left hasn’t attacked and tried to destroy. I can’t think of one.
Greek Life can be absolute cancer to a student finding their way towards adult responsibilities and a professional life, but one thing it does support is political incorrectness for the sake of rebelling against the fascist administration. It’s not always appropriate, but that’s what learning is for.
That’s why I have a love/hate relationship with them.