Tuesday, October 8, 1996
DISCRIMINATION:
Two members of the Greek system speak out against a recent
pamphletBy Adam Lyall
and Patrick Strader
We are writing this letter in order to address the outrageous
attack on the Greek system that was perpetrated during the first
week of school.
An unknown party researched, printed and secretly distributed a
20 page document which was slid under university dorm-room doors
late at night.
This slanderous document presented a timeline of "shocking
facts" dating back to 1925 and running up until last school year.
It also included the oft-quoted Theta Xi songbook. This songbook
was discovered by the Daily Bruin in spring of 1991. The last
section included several Daily Bruin articles, none of which,
interestingly enough, were dated later than 1992. The goal of our
letter is to point out the blatant discrimination that permeates
our campus.
The aim of the document in question was "to give incoming
students a better understanding of what it really means to go
Greek."
Although a large amount of time and money was spent on putting
this piece of anti-Greek propaganda together, we, as members of the
Greek community, feel that we are better qualified to inform the
public about what the Greek system is about.
The authors of the document would have you believe that
fraternities are about run-ins with the police, lewd songs, and
"racist, sexist and homophobia behavior." Although the timeline
presented a very comprehensive list of 100 alleged offenses, only
seven of these occurred after 1992 and nowhere were the thousands
of positive events such as philanthropy, community outreach
programs and community service mentioned. Neither were the
literally tens of thousand of lifetime friendships formed because
of this amazing establishment known as the Greek system.
On the subject of song lyrics, we would like to make the
disclaimer that the songs need to be taken in context.
Every brother in every house has the common sense to know that
these lyrics are only meant in jest and are used as our own cheers,
a tradition that can be traced back through the centuries.
In the days of Vikings, Norse warriors would write "kennings,"
which were poems that taunted fellow warriors (information courtesy
of Scandinavian 50). Today, this same behavior is exhibited by such
popular artists as Snoop Dogg, Eazy E and the recently deceased
Tupac Shakur, whose virtues were recently extolled by a Daily Bruin
columnist. He was referred to as "one of the most talented and
honest lyricists of the decade." We guarantee that some of you out
there who are shocked by fraternity lyrics own such albums as
"Doggystyle" or "Niggaz 4 Life" (which was released the same year
the Theta Xi lyrics were found). How is it possible that these
albums sell millions of copies, while we are slandered weekly?
"The Truth About …Going Greek" was undoubtedly an expensive
endeavor but was mysteriously left unsigned.
Anytime the Greek system does anything, illegal or not, we are
inundated with threats and insults  the very crimes we are
charged with.
The fact that someone put this pamphlet together is an
outrage.
It was as an extremely low class attempt to undermine Fraternity
and Sorority Rush. We would like to see the guilty party come
forward and show the courage to claim responsibility. With all the
problems in the world today, can’t you find a more productive way
to spend your time than hassling your fellow Bruins?
Adam Lyall is a third-year economics student. Patrick Strader is
a third-year student of political science.