Conor Daly: A problem that goes beyond Greeks

No one should have been surprised that Wednesday's opinion page of this newspaper sported yet another unsigned staff editorial bashing the Greek system.

Unfortunately, such editorials are now commonplace, so much so that it really wouldn't be a typical week on campus if devoted readers didn't see at least one scathing piece about the Greek system, or, at the very least, a thinly veiled allusion blatantly deriding Greeks for whatever reason the editors could concoct that week.

This week's token anti-Greek piece informed us all about a previously unidentified Penn tradition: Greek organizations getting investigated for violating hazing and alcohol policy regulations during the spring semester when rush and pledging are ongoing. For Greeks, the editorial's headline blared, it's "that time of year."

It's "that time of year" when the Greeks' disrespect for University policies is at its peak, and administrators, like those in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and the Office of Student Conduct, are forced to hand down what the editorial claims are lenient punishments.

The anti-Greek sentiment inherent in the opinion is quite obvious and disconcerting; but perhaps what is more disturbing is the allusion that because investigations of Greek organizations for alleged alcohol and hazing violations are the only such investigations making headlines, they are the only student groups that behave in a manner contradictory to University hazing and alcohol policies.

Sports teams, performing arts groups and academic honor societies (and don't forget the staff of this newspaper) are just some of the non-Greek groups who often break the same rules that Greek organizations are strongly criticized for violating, but their escapades don't end up with the usual blaring banner headlines or even make the newspaper.

Walk by Superblock some evening and look at what goes on in the grassy area right in the middle. You'll see groups of 40 or 50 people arranged in a circle, with people walking around dumping condiments on new members' heads, the latter enduring the treatment unflinchingly because they want to be members, too.

Sit outside Huntsman Hall and watch for what comes down the bridge. You'll see a group of guys running half naked down Locust Walk, screaming and hollering because they are new members, doing what the older members told them to do.

Sit outside the library and look at the ridiculous outfits some new members are wearing and watch as they embarrassingly stand on soapboxes and make absurd comments all day long because that's what it takes to become members.

These instances sound like they could be attributed to a fraternity or sorority, but in reality, they were or are part of initiation rituals, many of which are not included here, for non-Greek student groups at Penn. "That time of year" for them must then be in the fall when they take in their new members.

It is obvious that, yes, Greek organizations do break rules, but they are not the only ones who throw parties and initiate new members in questionable ways and sometimes run into trouble when that high-risk behavior forces a situation to become out of control and someone ends up in the hospital or worse.

However, that type of behavior practiced by non-Greek groups is seldom adjudicated, because they lack an overseeing body that strictly scrutinizes their behavior like the Greek community's OFSA, which, contrary to the statements provided in the editorial, does hand out extensive and stringent punishments -- that is, when it is found that violations of alcohol and hazing policies are just that and not simply allegations, routinely printed without accompanying facts in this newspaper.

Hazing and violations of Penn's alcohol policy are not just Greek problems, as this paper would like our campus to believe, but in actuality pervade many of Penn's social, academic and athletic organizations. In fact, it is ironic that the editorial staff is so quick to stand up and criticize Greek organizations for having such a disrespect for University policy and claim accordingly that a serious problem exists with the way Penn polices the Greek system, and yet remain silent about the same activities of other groups (and itself), which occur in the absence of any similar scrutiny that OFSA provides the Greek system.

At the very least, the prospect of OFSA conducting investigations into the activities of six Greek organizations demonstrates that enforcement of University policies is taking place.

Even though there may be room for improvement of that enforcement mechanism, at least the Greek system has some authority watching over every move of its fraternities and sororities and is not left, as this newspaper would love for everyone to believe, in a free-for-all characterized by disrespect for the rules that supposedly govern and apply to all students without discrimination.

Conor Daly is a senior Political Science major from Boxford, Mass.

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