By Ashley Ragone
Managing Editor
The news coverage and developing information in connection to the Jane Doe case at Cornell University right now is unavoidable. The Signal itself has already covered the case and its implications for Title IX departments, with nationwide protests taking place against Cornell’s lenient punishment for the seven men in connection to the allegation.
As public outcry builds and the discussion further unfolds, we naturally look back to the countless Jane Does that have come before, and those not able to come forward. Social media posts and news headlines urge us to remember Brock Turner, the performance artwork of Emma Sulkowicz and the countless other cases of sexual assault on college campuses. An “I am Jane Doe” trend has emerged on social media, with many women boldly standing with the former Cornell student to share their own stories of feeling helpless in an instance of violence at the institutions that are supposed to protect and educate them.
Most concerning to me is a major throughline I have been unable to look away from in many of these stories: the harmful traditions and culture that has been perpetuated through fraternities on college campuses to allow this behavior.
This is not me ignorantly claiming that all participants in Greek life are evil. I appreciate the honorable origins of it, a place of gathering for like-minded scholars and an opportunity for social connection among students. In fact, I deeply admire my own friends who engage in philanthropy and work alongside charitable organizations in their chapters.
What is most concerning is recent discussion of behavior within fraternities specifically, and the creation of what can only be described as an echo chamber allowing young men to believe pervasive misogyny and sexual violence is okay, as well as assault against one another.
In late September, two members of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus were arrested for unsafe hazing conditions discovered in their house, the fraternity having been expelled from the university 11 years prior.
On Oct. 7, the University of Arizona suspended activities for all of its affiliated fraternity chapters. Alleged reports of misconduct included “assault, hazing, and drug and alcohol-related behavior,” Dean of Students Chrissy Lieberman calling the number of cases and severity of the allegations “egregious.”
As mentioned before, these incidents are not something new. Sexual violence and unsafe fraternity conditions, though only recently taking up such a large part of the national conversation, have been a problem for some time, and are only becoming more pervasive. A study from 2021 found that men in fraternities “have a 62% higher likelihood of sexual aggression across the first two years of college.”
With this concerning statistic and only an increasing number of worrisome reports coming out of higher education institutions across the country, there needs to be a sweeping reform in the current culture surrounding fraternities.
Of course, this is a significant undertaking, and may not be entirely realistic or convincing to hear from one person; but it certainly is not impossible. With somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 chapters of Greek-letter organizations in the United States, and current regulations clearly not having enough impact, it is up to college administrators and one another to pay attention and take swift action. Letting disaffiliated chapters maintain a campus presence, maintaining weak Title IX procedures and turning a blind eye to the reports of young women is an easy place to start. For students, we must hold one another accountable, and the dialogue will begin to change.
TCNJ Panhellenic Association, the governing body for the College’s sorority chapters, released a statement including resources for sexual assault victims and a firm stance promoting safety within the Greek life community. The Interfraternity Council, an equivalent organization for the fraternity chapters at the College, has not made any such statement.
Fraternities are national organizations, and work from within is critical as well. The screenshots of Snapchat messages among the Chi Phi fraternity members at Cornell showed 57 young men staying quiet, and staying complicit. When young men begin to take accountability and change the conversation around them, others will take note.
I, and countless other women, know what it feels like to feel scared and helpless in the face of the actions of young men around us. Having better resources to turn to and peers that will not be complicit may have made this reality different for so many women; let’s not continue to fail each other.
