Blogger stands up for fraternities with “A Greek Man’s Rebuttal”

Last week, Betsey Horton wrote a column in The Volante where she described an incident in which she heard a number of frat boys singing an inappropriate song at a party. She then went on to describe (in vivid detail) the hurt expressed by the females who heard the song, describing guys as being immature and stupid. Then, she apparently left the house, but not before being confronted by a stereotypical frat rat where she proudly and diligently stood up for women everywhere.

I do not doubt that this happened, nor do I deny that some fraternities have jerks for members. We all have a story of running into one of those cretins during their nightly alcohol binges. But the column seems to be written with the distinct purpose of painting all fraternities and their members as drunken, vagina-obsessed hounds, who don’t respect women. To the writer of this column and members of the community who believe all fraternity members fit this stereotypical view, I’ll say one thing. You are so full of crap it’s flowing out of your ears and into your socks. Most members of the fraternities on campus are not sexist jerks, but are simply college guys who do a lot of good for the community and, on occasion, act their age. That’s it.

I’m so sorry that you ran into these guys and they made you feel insulted, but they aren’t the majority. Greek men on average have higher GPAs than God D*** Independents, participate in more campus and social events and do more for the community than most of you will ever realize. My fraternity, for example, raised almost 23,000 pounds of food this semester alone for the needy, which are hardly the actions of “immature” men. I’d like to see a single GDI try and raise that amount in a year, let alone in a few months.

We like to have fun from time to time, but I fail to see how it’s not OK for guys to sing those songs when it’s clear they’re not going to try to rape someone. You don’t know those guys’ character or motivation, how can you honestly make a statement like that so freely, and then condemn them for saying something not even equally inappropriate?  Not only is it discriminatory, but frankly, it’s insulting to those of us who work hard to uphold our chapters’ values. Yes, I’m sure you can bring up cases of guys in the Greek system committing that abhorrent crime, but people outside of the system have committed them at the same frequency, if not more so.

Those guys may have been immature, but this is college. It’s a time for learning, for broadening one’s horizons and occasionally being a little stupid with your new freedom. If no crimes are committed and nobody gets hurt, who are you to judge their conduct?

And let’s not pretend females are any less guilty of acting like idiots. If I had a dollar for every time I held a girls hair back as she was puking in the sink or making out with some creeper, I’d be able to pay off my college loans. Last Tuesday, at lunch, I heard a random first-year remark about her sexual escapades and that she couldn’t walk straight for two days in an obnoxious, laughing manner. Do I paint every female on this campus or those laughing at her with the same brush because of her conduct? No, because that would show how narrow minded I am, which I don’t consider myself to be.

Yes, I’ve met my fair share of idiots at this school, but I’ve also met some really good friends in the Greek life who’ve watched my back and made me a better man than I would have been as a GDI. If I didn’t think my brothers were moral, I wouldn’t have joined their fraternity, and I will not sit by and hear them be placed in the same group as Ms. Horton described in a one-time meeting. Even if it wasn’t her purpose, she made no attempt to differentiate one fraternity from another, and as a journalist that is a large ethical failure. She told that random frat boy that he made a very big mistake in telling her to leave. Allow me to say this to you Betsey Horton; you’ve made one as well.