The new school year is under way and we’ve all been experiencing the extreme rigors of syllabus week, post-syllabus week, and whatever week we’re currently in the midst of.
Despite these time-consuming challenges, I can safely say that most of us are familiar by now with the atrocious New York Times article that has tarnished Greek life in the eyes of administrators and students alike.
Peter Applebome’s article, titled “At a Campus Scarred by Hazing, Cries for Help,” is unsubstantiated, irrelevant and overall mediocre — at best. I’m not saying this as a literary expert, but simply as someone who knows how to read.
Greek Life at Binghamton University is not the sadomasochistic carnival that Applebome’s article and generally misinformed campus rumors tend to imply.
The fraternities and sororities that are the focus of the article are not, in fact, fraternities or sororities at all. They are not nationally chartered Greek organizations, they are not recognized by campus as Greek organizations and are therefore not Greek organizations.
The majority of instances of hazing mentioned in the article were committed not by BU Greek Life, but rather by houses full of people that apparently “crawled around outside in [their] boxers.”
So why is it that real sororities and fraternities are being cast into a purgatorial state while these lunatics are outside playing twister in their boxers?
I would argue that the situation has been redirected towards actual Greek Life for two possible reasons: either most Greek Life members forgot to leave the drama back in high school and just love any attention they can get, or Binghamton is just so petty that a hazing scandal is the only way the town can get on New York’s radar.
I’m not going to say that every campus-chartered Greek organization avoids hazing, but in reality, the majority of BU’s fraternities and sororities are not full of water boarding interrogators.
So while Peter Applebome may be misrepresenting BU’s array of Greek Life organizations or simply grasping at straws, Greek Life is facing real consequences and getting the short straw.
If campus authorities deem the business of these off-campus houses to be their own and decide to take action that’s one thing, but the blame shouldn’t be placed on the organizations that are playing by the rules.
This is not to say that campus authorities have suddenly been brainwashed by a New York Times article to suddenly despise Greek Life.
University President Harvey Stenger wrote in his addition to B-Line that Applebome’s quotes were taken “out of context, second-hand, and anonymous.” Stenger also seemingly showed support for those Greek organizations that had organized the Anti-Hazing rally on campus last week.
With the support of campus authorities, Greek Life has a chance to show students and those now watching Binghamton that they are not a group of naked, hazing militants.
Most of these organizations genuinely aim to offer a friendly outlet to students who want to be a part of something bigger and adopt lifelong values and traditions.
What the entire situation boils down to is that those that wish to play naked hopscotch in their boxers while getting hosed down can do so in the next release of “Girls Gone Wild,” and those that would rather remain with some dignity can still do so at Binghamton University.