an outsider's view of the frats

A group of us from this blog went to Chi Gam last night to discuss with some of the brothers the specific brand of sketchiness associated with Chi Gam in particular and fraternities on this campus in general. It was my first time in that house, and perhaps only my fifth time inside a fraternity. I think I learned a lot.

Let me be honest about my prejudices: I have no love for the greek system. As someone who has largely spent college outside of it, I may be influenced by the worst stories and unaware of the better ones. I tend to perceive the frats as places where alcoholism, objectification (primarily of women, but let's be honest, it goes both ways), and sexual assault take root. I think both the alochol culture and the hook-up culture are symptomatic of (and reinforce) social, emotional and cultural problems we desperately need to confront. But that's just me. Like I said, I haven't spent much time there, and I guess I've missed out on the fun, and rage, that so many laud.

The brothers we spoke with at Chi Gam pointed out, rightfully, that people go there of their own free will, and that the sort of activities I disdain are exactly what some people seek for their college experience. The frats did not invent either objectification or alcoholism, and if those cultural flaws insinuate themselves into otherwise good fun, the fun shouldn't be blamed.

And they're right, reliance on alcohol as a social lubricant and the tendancy of women to seek affirmation through sexual attention, even objectication, exist in our society regardless of the influence of the frats. The question, then, is whether frats reinforce and worsen the problem? I believe strongly that they do. To the extent that they integrate new members of the greek scene through alcohol and objectification, and they reward people based on their willingness to participate in both, they entrench those values and patterns of interaction. They are perceived by many students as exercising a monopoly over Dartmouth's social scene. The choice to stay out of the frat scene can seem to some to be a choice of voluntary social isolation (certainly some of my friends have accused me of that) -- a choice that many may be unwilling to make. The role of the greek system on this campus is unassailable, apparently, and as long as it persists our community cannot avoid being affected by its pathologies.

In our conversation with Chi Gam's thoughtful new programmer, we kept coming back to what fraternities could do to resolve these problems. Changing the internal culture of the fraternities, so that brothers learn to take women seriously, was one suggestion. Reaching out to communities of color and women's groups was another. Both might make the frats a more positive and constructive presence on campus. But in discussing these possibilities, we kept coming up against the momentum of frat culture: what brothers would and would not attend, who brothers would and would not take seriously, and the limited reach of occasional programming compared to the social scene constructed by pong and dance parties. I think we need to seriously ask ourselves if the greek system is something that can be fixed, and if we're willing to let the more sinister aspects of its influence on the campus continue unabated.