The Greek System Should be Removed From College Campuses

Context matters, accuracy matters, and thoughtful consideration without bias most definitely matters. Because when one acts without that witch hunts tend to result like the one we have right now against Greek Life which includes co-ed, black, Jewish, Hispanic, etc as well as the stereotype most folks think of. But as Salem and the Red Scare showed when people give into thoughtless hysteria there tends to be an ungodly amount of collateral damage. And that's what I am against. It doesn't matter if you have the best intentions if you cause more harm going forward then you present as solving - Prohibition led to both the rise of the Mafia and organized crime as well as the FBI (which has a lot of good and bad in it) and in the end alcohol ended up remaining a serious problem even now. The Quakers thought somber isolation would help prisoners, but it turns out isolation is more of an extreme punishment. Destroying Greek life won't make sexual violence on campus disappear nor will it fix the mess hysteria like this is creating on campus. It will however remove a lot of endowments, it will make things harder for certain groups with already large disadvantages (like blacks and women), and it will remove a large amount of charity (26+ million dollars and 5 million hours for 2013-2014). That kind of collateral damage is simply not acceptable... especially if it's based off BS statistics and anecdotal stories and 3rd/4th Wave misandry. So let me break it down into simple terms: 1.) Using numbers like "frat guys are 300% times more likely to rape" or "1 in 5 female college students will be raped" is just as harmful as saying "vaccines cause autism". Because they all come from either deciding on a verdict and working toward proving it or they come from falsify/manufacturing evidence. The "300%" number comes from John Foubert and actually the real numbers are 8% vs 2.5% with men ranging in age from 18 to 70... Do you see the problem there? And also this data comes from one university with a very abnormal student subset. Making it statistically worthless. And that's not even taking into consideration that women of college age who do not attend college are more likely to be raped then college students - but no one is working to protect them in the same way. That seems more discriminatory then the joining eligibility for a "social club". 2.) There have not been countless stories of frat boys taking advantage of women. Within the last five years there have been several possible stories - however there have also been several stories about women lying. The most infamous of those right now is the Rolling Stone story which has amongst other things ruined the life of a female dean painted to look like an uncaring monster. There is also the story of the Duke Lacrosse team. There is the story surrounding "Mattress Girl". There are the multiple stories of young men being railroaded for sexual assault following consensual sex - despite having witnesses, being drunk, text messages, and other things. And that's ignoring how Title IX is being used to bullied schools into unfortunate practices that are making things worst. 3.) Which brings me to my next point - this hysteria solves nothing and leads to many problems. For one thing the police are not being involved - and that has led to at least one case of a serial rapist finally murdering two victims and possibly a third after raping them. He'd already been expelled from two other colleges for rape - and no he wasn't in a frat. In fact many young many who have never even thought of rushing are being screwed over by the same wave of panic that is demonizing frats like previous waves have demonized rock music, video games, and comics. And again that's part of the collateral damage that acting from a point of self-righteous ignorance comes from. Willful ignorance at that considering somehow women have enough agency not to be "objectified", but are so weak that having anything to drink makes them incapable of consent - even though males are expected to be objective even at black-out levels of drunk. 4.) And that's my fourth point - there is a chasm of difference between "victim-blaming" and "self-responsibility". If a girl agrees to write the name of a frat on her chest how is that a point against frats? Doesn't she have the right to do that? Is Miley Cyrus not allowed to twerk and dance around mostly naked? Do you disagree with Jessica Valenti's endorsement of so-called "Slut Walks"? I mean if a girl chooses to have sex with a guy and later comes to regret it that should not result in the guy being labeled a rapist. And yet that is happening. And diffusing the concept of consent into effectively a catch-22 is also happening and the collateral of that is due process and a fair trial which is not acceptable. And no that doesn't mean rape on campus doesn't happen - but 80% of rapes happen between two people who know each other. Stranger rape is not common, and that's half the problem with blaming frats, because only 2% of the population is affiliated with frats... so how are they possibly causing 90% of the problem? And why should that affect sororities? 5.) The numbers don't make sense and the logic is lacking - campus crime has been dropping since the 80s. Only rape is rising, but the definition for rape is changing to include everything. For instance, this is from Yale: "Yale"s definition of consent reflects the University"s high expectations and permits discipline for behavior that does not meet a criminal standard may find that an encounter took place without coercion, force, or threat of force (criteria often associated with the term "rape") but still deem it to have lacked the unambiguous ongoing agreement that constitutes consent under the Yale standard." So depending on what "unambiguous agreement" means... some kid might become a de facto sex offender. I'm running out of characters so let me finish this up: - Reading for meaning is important: I said "since 1825 all presidents except two". - Dues are an investment, there are payment plans, and some folks actually get paid to be in a frat. - The first people to respond to "It's On Us" were frats: "Rock Against Rape", 21 Fraternities at IU signed a written pledge to take a stand against sexual assault, etc. - Re: 65% Okay using that number - Say there are 4 colleges in a nonexistent area, the first gets 50 from Greeks and 25 from Independent, second get 100 and 35, third gets 10 and 0, and fourth gets 5 and 30. Overall the Greeks have given 65% of the funds these colleges got even if the individual donations varied. - You're still using the "1-in-5" stat although its been debunked... On that point it's obvious that I'm not getting through to you - so I'll leave my resources (from both rounds) and hopefully something will stick. Because massive collateral damage due to moral panic (and the infantilizing of women) is quite simply unacceptable - especially if it means no Greek parties. Sources R1: Statistics http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... Debunked Myths http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... Ignored Issues http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... Health and Behavior http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... Sources R2: Must Watch: Actual Numbers/Inflated Numbers: http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... Must Read: http://tinyurl.com... Collateral Damage http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.com... Frat Info.: http://tinyurl.com... http://tinyurl.co...