Is Greek life dedicated to your safety?

Photo courtesy of Photo Editor, Faith Zatlukal

Discourse has increased concerning safety within Greek life/Party life. Every student has a right to know whether they will be safe engaging with different parties on campus.

Discourse about the safety of students in and out of Greek life who attend fraternity-hosted parties is rising. Concerns about a breach of respect and safety (hazing) for those who choose to pledge sororities and fraternities on campus are also increasing. To try and see if these concerns were substantiated, I asked 19 Greek and Greek-adjacent organizations on campus, picked from the registered fraternities and sororities list— not including professional and service organizations, inactive organizations, or those that are on a conduct suspension— if they would be willing to talk with me about these serious allegations against specific organizations. 

This did not go as planned. Only four out of 19 organizations responded to my outreach; in fact, 13 out of 19 organizations did not open the message I sent from the official Lamron Instagram asking them to join the conversation.

With the new semester starting and the spring rush events beginning, discussing possible unsafe spaces or people on campus is crucial. This could have been a space for organizations on campus to defend their fraternities or sororities and warn against possible unsafe situations in their own or other fraternities/sororities.

As I clarified to these organizations, “My— and The Lamron’s— goal is NOT to ‘get people in trouble’; we simply— as always —want to keep Geneseo’s student body informed about possible and ongoing events/incidents on and around campus.” 

I took it upon myself to ask each organization possible questions to comment on: “Do you feel safe inside [fraternity/sorority]?” “Have you witnessed/been a part of an incident inside or involving [fraternity/sorority]?” and “Have you warned/been warned about possible incidents inside or involving [fraternity/sorority]?”

If I were allowed to speak with these organizations properly, I would ask for comments on allegations dated Jan. 24 to Jan. 26 posted to the popular anonymous social media app Yik Yak, the first weekend this semester that students can party off campus on Orchard Street, also known as frat-row. These especially regarded the safety, or lack thereof, for some pledges and other Greek life attendees. 

I have chosen not to publish these claims, as they are serious allegations against specific groups of people. I can not and will not publish anonymous claims as fact. My hope in contacting these organizations was not to prove or disprove any existing allegations but to let both sides participate. If I can not get statements from one group, I will not publish the statements from the other for this particular subject.

These allegations are not new or a figment of the past. On Mar. 22, 2021, Geneseo Police Chief Eric Osganian told the Livingston County News anonymous tips alleged “‘…there was pledging going on where the pledges were sleep deprived, mentally harassed, being called to the fraternity house at night’ in violation of the college’s anti-hazing policies.” 

I understand those who were scared of making an official statement on misconduct allegations— though I may disagree —but what is more important than keeping your community safe?

Alpha Sigma Tau was one of the only organizations to respond to my messages, stating, “AST is 100% a non-hazing sorority as we have school and national sorority rules to follow, which many other national sororities on campus also have similar national rules to follow! We have not heard of any unsafe situations on campus regarding our sorority or any other Greek life organization!”

Sigma Alpha Mu and Phi Lambda Chi claimed to be interested in participating but needed to contact their presidents and e-boards. This is a smart move and was greatly appreciated…at least, I was appreciative until neither returned to me. I contacted both of them again and was ignored. 

A fourth group responded to my messages and climbed to be 100 percent hazing-free, but they did not want to be mentioned in the article.

I devised a new plan to ensure these organizations could speak freely without risking backlash. I created and sent out an anonymous questionnaire, asking questions about safety and relevant current rumors within and surrounding the Greek life community, including those in an organization on campus and those attending Greek life parties. I sent it to every Greek life organization, regardless of whether or not they read or responded to my last message asking for comments.

In theory, 19 fraternities/sorority organizations containing roughly 700 students were potentially given access to this anonymous form…I received four responses in total. I say “potentially” as there is also no guarantee that the organization’s president and secretary— assuming that this is who was reading my messages —would have sent it to their fellow members. Now, unless 696 students had access to my 11-question questionnaire and decided not to take it, I feel these presidents did not send them out. Remember, 13 of them did not even read it. 

Of course, I did not anticipate that every student in Greek life would respond. Even if all 700 or so students had access— though again, I suspect they were not sent it —only four responses could not be published. This would be incredibly skewed data and would risk anonymity.

Again, I can understand not wanting to make an open statement about misconduct on this campus, even if it was not valid. I do not understand denying your members a chance to speak their minds anonymously and help contribute to an inquiry trying to inform the community on safety, especially if rumors suggest Greek life is not safe.

My plan was never to “expose” these organizations. The best case scenario, in my opinion, would be for each group to announce there was, in fact, no hazing or abuse in the organization or at organization events. I would then let the reader decide whether to take this at face value or not. Instead, I was left almost wholly ignored.

I would love a chance to try this again properly, but I doubt I will get better results. Instead, however, if you would like your story shared publicly or anonymously, please contact The Lamron. As always, we are here to serve the Geneseo community. If you have experienced a serious or dangerous situation regarding Geneseo-Greek life, please reach out to the Office of Fraternal Life or the University Police Department.