Despite the despicable reputation of IFC fraternities, I rushed one during my freshman year. After meeting one member who shared my political views, I was under the impression that a large portion of the other members were similarly thoughtful and had a vested interest in using their privilege to catalyze social change. After having spent over a year in my organization and as part of IFC, I am no longer convinced that is the case.

A fraternity member told me that he attended a beer-pong tournament rush event at another fraternity at which one team proclaimed themselves “the fa—ts.” This use of a homophobic slur is an example of the insidious side of fraternity life, in which members often enable behavior, from hateful speech to assault. The University notified students earlier this month that they received anonymous reports alleging multiple sexual assaults and druggings at Sigma Alpha Epsilon and another unnamed fraternity. This complicity is infuriatingly pervasive: Men in fraternities, no matter the affiliation, are statistically more likely to perpetrate assault than non-fraternity members.

Yet members of Greek life at NU continue to label ourselves as “different” from those at other schools. In some cases, I think this is apt, particularly for PHA sororities and multicultural Greek organizations. But I do not see how our expensive and predominantly white and straight IFC fraternities are different from stereotypical fraternities at other schools in terms of our organization. While we do receive education in the fraternity aimed to prevent sexual assault, alcohol abuse and taking advantage of power dynamics, these programs demonstrably do not do enough to counteract the problems at IFC’s roots. They are obligatory and thus appear to be completed to check a box or as a preventative measure, rather than because of a real commitment to change.

I’ve had countless conversations with fellow IFC members as well as non-affiliated students about the pros and cons of the system. I’m aware of the nuances that must be considered when talking about Greek life, including its important role in creating historically women-only spaces, multicultural spaces and, occasionally, valuable education for affiliated members. But IFC remains a center of privilege, power and willful ignorance. If its members do not seek to change these aspects, IFC should no longer be a part of our campus.

The root of these issues may lie in the foundation of the Greek system itself: the arbitrary separation of men and women. As a wealthy white man who is complicit in the problems I’ve described in this column, I have no place saying that women do not deserve a space of their own, especially now that the resources at the Women’s Center have been disastrously cut. But there is no place at NU for organizations that continue to marginalize those who are different –– IFC organizations must show they are truly committed to changing their structure.

Fraternities might be forced to dissociate from their national organizations and begin rushing without regard to gender, but there are certainly other issues with this approach. We fraternity members have a ways to go before we may safely welcome other genders into our spaces (not just women – genderqueer or gender-nonconforming people have an even higher likelihood of being attacked or sexually harassed than women). A better solution seems that, at least for the near future, NU should prevent Greek organizations from establishing new chapters at NU and problematic organizations must be forced to either hold their members accountable, or be permanently eliminated from campus. The same men who have benefitted from the status quo of deference to IFC fraternities are now being tasked with fundamentally changing the status quo of Greek life’s role on our campus. That these men will destroy a system that privileges them seems unlikely as ever, and thus I hope the University will implement measures to enforce that necessary change.

I joined my organization thinking that IFC fraternities at NU were “different.” I was wrong. And so long as this mindset is enabled by fraternity men, and members are always able to point to a more problematic chapter or campus, students on our campus will remain unsafe. There must be radical change among fraternity men with power because those with power do not deserve their own space while promoting or being complicit in injustice.

John Williams is a McCormick sophomore. He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected].
The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.