Editorial Conversations: Greek Week
Question: Should Greek Week have been canceled for 2010?
Before I weigh in on this topic wholeheartedly, I offer full disclosure: I’ve written about the Greeks only once before – in my piece entitled Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, and it concerned the attitudes of the community towards the Technology in Society living program. The tone of the article leaned towards the preservation of the system with the understanding that good expansion could come through special interest houses, which are (as the article explains) quite similar to Greek houses, without a set of letters.
Considering the circumstances, as I understand them, Greek Week was cancelled by the Fraternity Management Association, a conglomerate that is Lehigh-run with administration from each house on-board. If this is not correct, I apologize.
If such is, in fact, accurate, then the dispute seems to center around motives and motivation, and not an undue action by the administration’s part.
I did not attend Greek Week last year. I read the coverage, I made my biases, and I sort of left it to the wayside. My understanding was that there were derogatory remarks made publically (derogatory as defined by The Brown & White, or some PC attendees), and someone may or may not have wet herself.
The fact is, the University’s attitude towards the behavior of its students has very much been characterized by the scolded, naughty child approach. Guilt is often assumed before evidence, and the weight of opinion always seems to stand on the side that reads nicer in public relations reports (aka, the politically correct side). I for one believe that political correctness is a means for control. I believe that people do not intrinsically have the right not to be offended, because oftentimes, their offense offends me, so it’s an absurd, moot catch-22. All this considered, while I’m sure some individuals said or did things that everyone would’ve dismissed had it been a private affair, clearly it was a public affair, and someone cried foul.
Should this constitute cancellation? That’s a hard call. If the Greeks really want to shed their reputation as entitled, underachieving, shallow beings that dominate the school’s social scene by force (I’m not saying that these descriptions are accurate or inaccurate – I’m merely restating a partial perception consensus culled from many articles, editorials, and other published works), then it would be in their best interests to rethink their approach.
To Discuss this issue, please see all three of our editor’s viewpoints, and comment here.
