This past weekend, The Wire received an anonymous email reporting racist and misogynistic writing in the basement of Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), along with a photo. The writing reads “Not Afraid to ‘Hard...

The bustling Whitman College campus is bookended by two essential social hubs: Prentiss Hall, home of Whitman's four sororities, to the south, and Whitman’s four fraternity houses to the north. These Greek chapters have peripheral locations but are of central importance to life at Whitman, with occasional recklessness that divide campus over controversial issues as well as tremendous fellowship that brings Whitties together. To properly understand how the Greek system has taken such a strong foothold in Whitman's social life, it’s imperative to start from the beginning.

Over Thanksgiving break all four fraternities on campus were hit with a string of burglaries. According to Interfraternity Council Community Relations officer and junior Alejandro Fuentes, the burglaries occurred on two separate occasions. The first burglary occurred between 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23, and 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24, at Beta Theta Pi and Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Greek life and varsity sports share many core goals: building a sense of family, working together to accomplish goals and, above all, having fun. So it is not surprising to find at Whitman a thriving culture of Greek athletes. Athletes' participation in Greek life, however, spans the spectrum from a positive relationship to a disruptive engagement.

Whitman's administration is investigating claims that TKE initiation violates the college's Code of Conduct and hazing policy.