Among my artist colleagues, there’s something I don’t often admit. In fact, when we were dating, it was many months before I told my now-husband that I had been in a sorority. This is not a discussion about the pros and cons of Greek life, there are both. This is about a recent event.
It was a different school but that same sorority. Kappa
Alpha Theta just disbanded its University of Michigan chapter for hazing
and underage drinking. It had been the oldest sorority (actually, women’s
fraternity) on campus, and one of the earliest chapters established in the United States.
Sadly, I agree with the Grand Council’s decision to close
the sorority. According to a published account, a group of pledges responded to
a fraternity serenade by becoming inebriated, taking off clothes, putting
on chocolate syrup, making out (at the least), capturing it on video, and then
posting it on the internet. Because the entire chapter has been punished, my
guess is that this is but the latest infraction and part of a larger history.
As one of those young women who was emotionally and socially
ill-prepared for big university life, I delved much too deeply into the
recreational and celebratory aspects of Greek life. Fortunately, I had parents
who recognized this and supported me when I transferred to a much smaller
liberal arts college where I thrived. Actions have consequences, a hard lesson
I’ve had to learn again and again.
I admit, I am not a parent. I can only imagine the challenge
of navigating popular culture, peer pressure, social media, and celebrity – all
bombarding young people today. But there comes a point when someone has to recognize
that the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus are not role models; that Victoria
Secret’s Pink and American Apparel sell with hypersexualized objectification of
women; that ten thousand likes on one of ten thousand selfies are meaningless, and
that often, sex with an inebriated minor is rape.
Perhaps it’s time to reset our moral compass and change the
conversation. I don’t mean in some right-wing, so-called Christian
fundamentalist way. While we’re arguing about the gender of bathrooms, young
people are treating themselves and others with the same respect that
third-world terrorists treat their captives. We define millennials by their
buying-power, not their character, and our tendency toward charity, kindness,
and empathy is certainly in scarce supply.
I keep hearing people who are worried about the economic
future of their children’s children. I would suggest worrying about our own
character, and how it informs the behavior of young people. In doing so we safeguard not only our young people’s future, but that of
generations to come.
Oh, by the way, I was a debutante too.
