Phi Delta Theta Suspends All Functions Following Sexual Misconduct Concerns
Photo by Tywen Kelly
March 10, 2016
Following a large number of sexual misconduct reports to Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP) representatives concerning members of Phi Delta Theta, the Whitman College chapter of the fraternity has suspended all functions indefinitely.
The presidents and SVP representatives of Phi Delta Theta, Panhellenic Council, and Whitman’s four women’s fraternities announced the suspension in an email to the Greek community on Tuesday.
“The health, safety, and well-being of all Greek members are of the utmost importance to us, and as such, we feel that we must take action to address a serious safety concern that has been raised … This is a collaborative effort. Our goals to protect and advocate for victims are the same,” Greek leaders stated.
The authors of the statement declined to comment further to The Pioneer, though they expect to release a short statement clarifying their plans for the future in the next few days. According to the initial statement, social functions will resume only once Phi Delta Theta and women’s fraternity leaders agree there has been a noticeable change in the fraternity’s culture.
In the coming weeks, all members of Phi Delta Theta will be required to attend presentations by All Students for Consent and Greek SVP members. The fraternity will also take steps specified by women’s fraternity leaders that have not been shared with the wider community.
“We pledge to the individuals affected, to all the other Greek organizations, to the entire Whitman community, and to ourselves that unless the community notices a drastic change in behavior, we will not exist as a participant body on this campus,” wrote representatives of Phi Delta Theta in the email.
The SVP reporting system through which complaints were made was developed earlier this year by six Greek student interns for Associate Dean of Students and Student Life Barbara Maxwell. Initially, the reporting system was intended to only handle less-severe cases of sexual misconduct–not sexual assault–through conversations between students. Assault cases are still handled by the college’s official Title IX process. It remains unclear whether the cases brought forward to the SVP representatives were more serious cases than expected, potentially blurring the lines between the SVP system and Title IX. Maxwell declined to be interviewed for this article.
“The perpetration of sexual assault represents a troubling pattern of behavior and a culture we refuse to participate in. We will not socialize with any men who victimize our members, regardless of their Greek affiliation,” wrote representatives of women’s Greek organizations in the email sent earlier this week. “This is a campus-wide issue, and we need to address this problem as a community.”
ann beery • Mar 10, 2016 at 3:23 pm
Wherebare the male representatives? Only observances made by womens fraternities can resultnin reinstatement? Wish the article was better written and investigated…..pretty damning wothout specifics…
Dana Burgess • Mar 10, 2016 at 2:18 pm
Dear Editors,
It your article “Phi Delta Theta suspends functions following sexual misconduct concerns,” in the March 10, 2016 issue, your newspaper uses the phrase “Whitman’s four women’s fraternities.” This usage is sexist. The word fraternity comes from the Latin word for brother, frater; sorority comes from the Latin word for sister, soror. Using the term “women’s fraternity” privileges brotherhood over sisterhood. Such sexism is to be expected in the time of the French Revolution and its celebration of liberté, égalité, fraternité, but in 2016 we should be more respectful of women’s solidarity through sisterhood. I hope that your newspaper will be more aware of sexist language in the future.
Respectfully Submitted.
Dana L. Burgess
Professor of Classics
Arika Wieneke • Apr 29, 2016 at 2:46 pm
Professor Burgess,
While I completely agree that the use of the term fraternity is problematic, I don’t necessarily believe the Pio was wrong to use this term. I say this because several female Greek organization technically are fraternities and not sororities.
Many female Greek organizations began forming before the term sorority became widely used/accepted and so they organized themselves as female fraternities. Kappa Alpha Theta, for instance, is one such example. They actually pride themselves for being the first “first Greek-letter fraternity for women” (source: https://www.kappaalphatheta.org/).
The use of fraternity instead of sorority, no matter that it is the official title, is certainly problematic and quite frustrating for many. At Whitman and surely most if not all other college campuses, Kappa Alpha Theta and the other female Greek organizations are referred to as sororities despite their technical “titles.” I should add that I can’t speak to the other female Greek organization on campus besides Theta, but I believe that more than half of all female Greek organizations technically are fraternities and not sororities. So the Pio may actually be quite correct in using the term fraternity – even if it appears that they’re being disrespectful.
Cheers,
Arika Wieneke
Class of 2015
Alum2015 • Mar 10, 2016 at 1:23 pm
To Pio Staff, Phi Leadership and Title IX Officials: What is being done to ensure that the alleged perpetrators, currently active members of the fraternity, are brought to justice? Surely they aren’t attending other campus functions? I sincerely hope the individuals in question are going through the Title IX process as I write this.