Dear Editor,

Last week, the Inter-Fraternal Council was invited to join FACE, Coalition Against Homophobia, the Panhellenic Association, and dozens of students walking in Monday’s Take Back the Night event to demonstrate against sexual violence. Though the IFC originally said it would be happy to join, it ultimately could not find any men to participate. The fraternities had the chance to do something inspiring for our campus; it’s disappointing that they did not take advantage of it.

The fraternities have taken a lot of heat this year, and I certainly do not want to add to that by diminishing their admirable efforts to fight against Red Dots on campus. They should be commended for all the work they have done, and continue to do, to make our campus a safer place.

That said, it was disappointing that the fraternities couldn’t muster a single man to walk on Monday night. Out of the hundreds of fraternity men, was there not a single one who could dedicate an hour on a Monday to show support for this cause? What could have been a better message to our campus than the presidents of all four fraternities walking to Take Back the Night for their fellow students? What could have been more empowering to victims of sexual assault than having the leaders of the largest group of men on campus stand in solidarity with them?

I hope that in the future, the fraternities continue their work to prevent Red Dots by teaming up with groups like FACE to spread the message that the Greek men of Whitman are committed to fighting sexual violence. Sexual abuse is not the problem of any one group, and no group can solve it alone. We are a stronger, safer community for everyone when we all stand together.

Sincerely,
Seth Dawson, ’12