Recently, a survey was sent out to the campus community and it touched on a very sensitive topic: sexual violence and its relevance to Greek Organizations in our campus community. Before I get into this topic, I want to reveal two things. One, I am in no way directly affiliated with any Greek Organization on this campus. Two, I have experienced multiple forms of violence, both on and off campus. That being said, I am writing this completely unbiased as can be.
When this survey was sent out, there was much backlash from the campus community, so naturally I checked it out. The survey, which was emailed to the entire student body, is part of a research project. Many of the questions were very personal and potentially triggering. There also seemed to be a bit of a bias towards Greek Organizations on campus.
It’s no secret that there have been some cases in which members of Greek Organizations have been found guilty of sexual violence on other college campuses. While this is true, it doesn’t mean that only members of Greek Organizations are capable of committing these acts. Although the survey was not intended to imply that members of Greek life are the only ones committing these acts on campus, it seems to shine a negative light on them.
On one hand, it’s great that people are taking sexual violence on college campuses seriously, because it is an issue that needs to be recognized and fixed. On the other hand, people need to be aware that any single individual, no matter what gender he or she is, sexual orientation he or she identifies with, religion he or she is, or organization he or she is associated with, is capable of committing these acts. Instead of pointing fingers at a certain group, everyone needs to be aware that anyone can be guilty of committing sexual violence.
As the survey seems to be implying that members of Greek Organizations are highly involved in sexual violence, I’d have to disagree. As a victim of sexual violence, I feel the safest with members of Greek Organizations. Of course, I am not saying that they aren’t capable of doing bad things, but it’s not in their nature to do so. As far as I know, no organization on this campus encourages their members to go out and commit acts of sexual violence.
This being said, our campus needs to focus on how to fix these issues as a whole, rather than trying to pin it on a specific group. Sexual violence is an issue, and it happens every single day. We need to work together as a community to stop this issue, instead of just blaming it on Greek Organizations. Sexual violence is not privy to one group, and that needs to be made known.
If you’re reading this, and you’re a victim of any type of sexual violence, whether it occurred on or off campus, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Violence Prevention and Intervention Center or the Counseling Center. Both are located on the bottom of Sheffield Hall. You can also reach out to the Rape Crisis Center of Milford.
