White fraternities create `incestuous' living structure

I've run into a lot of fascinating frat guys since I returned. Let me qualify that statement. Men I had lost faith in, men I felt had sacrificed themselves to The Lifestyle, men I thought were shish-kebabs in the hands of cannibalistic, neanderthal upperclassmen have redeemed themselves.

No thanks to their respective fraternities.

The long and the short of it is this: White fraternities on this campus create an incestuous, homosocial living structure as their ideal. By incestuous, I mean the seamlessness of social formation, the doors that are closed to independent, non-white and homosexual students, i.e. kegs. By homosocial I mean the single-sex residential living space that seems to cause so many problems, so much gender-based miscommunication at Duke, i.e. fratty male bonding. Those who save themselves from this sociological mess usually do so outside of the section.

These fraternity shortcomings, however, should not strike any Duke student as major revelations. I therefore will not dwell on them. Instead, I hope to explain why white fraternities should have their residential housing revoked. The basis of my argument is remarkably simple. White fraternities have not proven that they deserve on-campus sections, much less that they should be allowed to figuratively dominate West Campus living space. Kegs, held in University common space, have proven an extraordinary failure in providing a healthy social outlet for undergraduates. Those who predict an apocalyptic social scene at a post-frat Duke simply have an addiction to bad music, suffocating commons rooms and infantile conversation. Date rape and sexual harassment have created some shock waves through the fraternity community, but nothing on a revolutionary scale. Violence against women within the fraternity system should be cause for a brother's immediate deactivation. This has not been the fate of one man since my time here. And while race relations continue to worsen, white fraternities do not take radical action of any sort. I refer repeatedly to white fraternities because, at least from where I am standing, black fraternities at Duke have a much more coherent set of values. Despite the so-called separatist impulse white students refer to, the black greek system actually sponsors forums and speakers on race relations. The black frats actually make a wholehearted effort to advertise for their parties, a noble gesture considering the lack of literal and metaphoric social space black students have on this campus. An important final point: the corrupt and ongoing white fraternity domination of the Undergraduate Judicial Board has created Duke's equivalent of a residential Mafia, a permanent buffer against fraternity punishment. Please, no letters about last year's wonderful UJB application process reform. That was a public relations farce, plain and simple. Greeks maintain their historical stranglehold. Six fraternity men on a board of 18. Greek men are not one third of this campus.

I do not question the right of fraternities to exist. Exist all you want. Affiliate yourselves with the KKK for all I care. But currently the white fraternity experience is subsidized by this university, given social space and status that is not deserved. In the least. If Greek men want communal living space on campus they should carry the burden of proof. Yet they never have and don't plan to.

To the disgruntled independent community, I say do not let a new president, changing social mores or altered alcohol policies make you complacent. Your contempt for current Duke social life will not translate into change. For our intents and purposes, there is no such thing as a "progressive administrator." S/he does not exist. Wasiolek, Dickerson, Keohane and others will do nothing without a mandate. You want a different residential situation here? Think insurrection. Paint the benches, storm the offices, apply for the Greek Task Force, make yourself heard.

In the meantime, I hope to make the wonderful, intellectual, warm-hearted frat boys I keep running into a more integral part of the university community. I know you are out there and I know you see untapped righteousness oozing through your fraternity section. Independents and sorority women must tell these friends and lovers the truth. Any time someone associates with a group akin to a fraternity, he must take responsibility for that group's actions. Silent moral objections don't mean shit. Tell your SPE friends that you really do mean "disgusted," not "envious." Tell your Beta friends that a progressive image is not necessarily the equivalent of a progressive life style. Tell your Kappa Sig friends that nice guys don't cattle drive. Tell your Phi Psi friends that there's nothing sexy about pimps and whores. And tell your SAE friends that they can cut down all the ribbons they want. People don't forget brutality.

And hopefully someday we can all be friends. Someday.