White, Male and Privileged: The Paradox of the Modern Fraternity

Fraternities are homogeneous by nature. Oh, I know – there are many different types of fraternities. For example there are fraternities for engineers, scientists, African Americans and computer geeks. Perhaps you were a member of one of those fraternities. But that’s not the kind of under discussion today. Today I’m talking about another kind of fraternity. I’m talking about the traditional party fraternity, the type that is rich, Christian, white, privileged, and heterosexual in nature. Their members have never worked at low paying jobs, like a supermarket or fast food outlet, never learned to get along with coworkers who actually need the money they earn. Except for the rare occasions when they go slumming, they don’t meet people who are poor, who are of a different race or background. Most unfair of all is that they don’t go job hunting after graduation but they nonetheless end up with a career.

And the careers are good ones.

For example, 76% of U.S. Senators and Congressmen, 85% of Fortune 500 executives, 85% of Supreme Court justices since 1910, 86% of the nation’s largest corporations, 63% of U.S. President’s Cabinet members since 1910, 100% of Apollo 11 Astronauts, and 71% of those listed in Who’s Who in America are fraternity men. Greek Life Statistics

White, male and privileged. Fraternity members learn to value above all else loyalty, silence, and the protection of fellow members. It is in these years beginning at the receptive ages of 18 or 19, when their minds are hardened by the oaths of brotherhood and, for the most part, the message is an easy one to swallow. The maxim is that they are the top 2% of society, the creme de la creme and from that position of power they can do no wrong. It is at this point they are taught, thoroughly and carefully taught, that the three covenants of loyalty, protection and silence are key to their future success. When a brother does something wrong, even if it is criminal, they are protected by their fellow fraternity members. These rich, white males seldom go to jail.

The problem for me and the rest of mankind is that they don’t even notice us. As a woman, I am to serve them, not compete with them for jobs and recognition. A case in point is Brett Kavanaugh. He wasn’t a great student at Yale but he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, known for its drinking and partying. His old Yale frat has come under fire several times and is not permitted a permanent building at Yale. See Wikipedia and The New Yorker.

Last year when Christine Blasey Ford testified before Congress that Brett Kavanaugh and his friend sexually assaulted her at a party, it didn’t matter. His frat buddies had his back. After all 76% of all congressmen and 85% of Supreme Court Judges are fraternity alumni. That makes the upper political echelons an elite clique. It also means that when they graciously welcomed him into their club, they were already aware of Kavanaugh’s loutish tendencies. During the time he was at Yale, Kavanaugh’s fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, marched across campus with a flag made from women’s underwear. Photos from the era showed frat members in group shots with something missing – their pants. It kind of gives Deborah Ramirez’s story more credence. Not wearing pants was apparently a meme of the DKE chapter. Eye witnesses of the Ramirez incident called the FBI to back her up but no one returned their calls. Another man came forward to say he witnessed Kavanaugh stick his privates in another girl’s face but the FBI again failed to follow up. Why?

Did someone higher up intervene with the FBI to stop an investigation? Congressional members are old dudes well conditioned to the white, male and privileged holy trinity of beliefs.

Although the third woman, Julie Swetnick, has been shamed by the press, what she said hasn’t been proven or disproven. She’s not a perfect witness, I know, but does that mean it didn’t happen? We can’t truly know if no one actually attempts to find out. I’d like to see the FBI at least look into her allegations. She attested to witnessing a gang rape and to seeing Brett Kavanaugh in the lineup waiting to go into the room. That’s not so outrageous. In fact it’s believable. After all 55% of gang rapes on campus are committed by frat men.¹ Some fraternities make a practice of gang rape. They’ve been doing it for years and the story told by Julie Swetnick had the ring of truth in it.

As well as being the fraternity 5 presidents have called home, Delta Kappa Epsilon has had a questionable reputation for years. The New Yorker points out in a biopic about George W. Bush, who was also known for his drinking, that in the year Bush was pledged, the fraternity president told incoming freshmen,

“Delta Kappa brothers are men of honor, decency, and God-given character. That, along with our family fortunes, is why we rule the world.”

And rule the world they do, even if they are lacking in both the ability and decency to do so.

Alexa Derman, who was a senior at Yale when she was interviewed about Kavanaugh’s confirmation had this to say about men like him.

“they don’t disappear but instead become part of the fabric of society, & a certain type ascends & ascends.” It’s “been unbearable at times to watch men I know have hurt my friends ascend within clubs to leadership,” she continued, adding, “How will we feel seeing which of them rise in their fields, our fields, invincible & untouchable?”

Very well put, Alexa. It was this very thought that convinced Christine Blasey Ford to come forward to accuse Kavanaugh. It has bothered many women, myself included.

Did you know that 1000 women, students, graduates and professors of Yale signed an open letter asking for a thorough investigation into the accusations of both Ramirez and Ford? They found their stories believable. Usually a University would be proud to have one of its graduates rise to become a supreme court judge but Yale, instead of celebrating, closed classes so students would be free to picket the confirmation hearings. Yale knows why and these women know why. Even if they don’t have the first-hand knowledge that Ford and Ramirez have, they know the reputation of DKE. They know the type that joins the party frat at Yale. Pay attention to them.

Some of them were there in 2010 when DKE pledges advanced on the Yale freshman dorms singing “No means yes, yes means anal.” As if that wasn’t enough, they added: “Fucking sluts!” and “I fuck dead women and fill them with my semen.” After months of deliberation this led to a 5-year ban on the fraternity, probably the best thing to happen to Delta Kappa Epsilon since its inception.

I was surprised to learn that fraternities are autonomous institutions. DKE pays its own rent and expenses and if they have oversight at all it is from their national headquarters not Yale University. Drinking is permitted in frats but not in sororities. It’s not fair but I’m going to leave it because I lean to taking away the boozing privilege from frats not winning the ability for sororities. Since bars, restaurants and sororities can’t serve booze to underaged students that means fraternities are the only place on or near campus that underage students can find it. This creates a perfect opportunity to get a girl drunk or slip a little something extra into her drink.

Traditionally, young men are excused for their behavior if they were drunk but if the victim is drunk, she is blamed for putting herself in harm’s way.²

But the bottom line, what really affects Yale’s rape containment policies is cost-management and profitability. Unfortunately it’s not cost-effective to go too far out on a limb to protect rape victims.

“‘Yale has some very good cost-benefit-analysis lawyers who talk about the school’s liability,’says Colby Bruno, the lawyer from the Victim Rights Law Center, as she walked through a hypothetical example of likelihood that a male student will sue for an expulsion versus the chances a female student will sue for not issuing a harsh enough punishment.”³

That plays out to mean save the rapist and ditch the victim. It may not be just, kind, or empathic, but it is cost effective. Yale mitigates its losses in other ways. NDAs, or non-disclosure agreements, are required of both rapist and victim prior to adjudication by Yale which means the victim can’t talk about the rape. I presume this is an insurance requirement. To keep insurance costs down both rapist and victim must sign the NDA. I’m not sure about this. I’m surmising.

Frat boys know to pick the most vulnerable girls, the ones who haven’t gotten the word to stay away from DKE. And those same frat boys will be the first to rage their defense aka Brett Kavanaugh that they don’t remember the event happening. They have rich parents and they are also the first to sue. The victim is embarrassed and isn’t even sure she wants to tell the story. She knows her name will be dragged through the mud as it is. If she signs an NDA, she can’t talk about the rape incident at all, not to her friends, not to her family, not to her pastor and not even to her therapist. She is as if discarded, alone and silent in her recovery effort, mutely unable to talk about what is most on her mind. Money talks and it’s the way the system works or, as I see it, the system doesn’t work.

Another reason universities are unwilling to go up against fraternities is donations. According to the Century Foundation, the Greek system is entrenched in America because they are generous donors. Fraternity and sorority alumni represent the largest sector of lifetime donors to colleges, four times more than non-Greeks, and thus have a firm grip on university politics.

How did fraternities become associated with rape in general and with gang rape in particular? Although universities have been acutely aware of the problem for decades, they are just beginning to study it, and more importantly to look at fraternities as a breeding ground for the hyper-masculine traits conducive to sexual assault. I found several new studies dated this year that are also looking into the subject of fraternity gang rape. The first study is Bros Will be Bros⁴by Rita C Seabrook and L. Monique Ward, the second is Multiple Perpetrator Rape⁵by Jessica Woodhams and the third is Masculinity in Fraternities⁶by Alisha K. Ram.

College rape rates are rising and it’s not just because of the #metoo movement. It’s dangerous for a woman in college especially in her freshman year before she learns the ropes. According to RAINN in 2018, college women between the ages of 18-24 are 3 times more likely to be at risk of sexual violence than other women.

The statistics are overwhelming and consistent as you will see from the studies noted below.

A 2017 study at Western Carolina University reported that undergrad frat men make up only ¼ of college men on campus but represent 46% of the college men commonly associated with sexual assault.⁷

A 1996 study at Ohio University found that 55% of gang rapes on campus are committed by frat men.⁸

A 1985 study for the Project on the Status and Education of Women identifies 50 gang rapes on a campus perpetrated by fraternity men.⁹

Some feel that fraternity gang rape is even higher, that it could be as high as 90% of all gang rapes on campus. After all fraternities have ultimate situational control and the victim has none. They own the house, are the party hosts, control the alcohol and who gets in and who doesn’t. The fraternity bedrooms are close by. The brothers may have a plan in place or they may be merely opportunistic if a favorable situation arises. What is clear is that in a fraternity house, the setting for gang rape is ready and waiting for a girl to walk in and get drunk enough to be unable to offer resistance. Once she is upstairs out of sight, the scene is set for a gang rape to possibly occur. I offer the following two references with the caution that they are taken from articles not academic studies.

A fraternity alumnus and trial attorney writing in his fraternity’s magazine claimed that over 90% of all gang rapes on college campuses involved fraternity men.¹⁰

and

EliteDaily.com, a Bustle site for millennial women, states that “Numerous studies over time have shown that fraternity men are more likely to commit rape and sexual assault, with some estimating that between 70% and 90% of on-campus gang rapes happen thanks to them.”¹¹

Fraternities are entrenched in our society and it looks as if there is little chance of closing them down. It is, however, absolutely crucial that we take action to change fraternity culture as it stands now and has stood since the 1825 when Kappa Alpha society, the first fraternity, was founded in Schenectady, New York. Yale did just that after the 2010 “No means yes. Yes means anal.” fiasco. They closed the fraternity for 5 years hoping that when the fraternity started up again with a new group of students it would hopefully have a more responsible set of values.

The advantages of joining a fraternity are clear and the qualities of honor, decency and God-given character are certainly noble ones. Unfortunately, the institution has decayed within and many fraternities today have become drinking clubs more concerned rape and sexual assault. Academic studies have attempted to define the problem. The following are a sample of the issues they found. Deindividuation, drunkenness, non-acceptance of blame and hegemonic masculinity are some of the qualities fraternities have developed over time. They are akin to viruses and are hurting these young men as well as us.

Deindividuation. Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness in groups. Fraternities are, as I pointed out in the first line of this post, homogeneous in nature. They are of the ruling class, white and male. They have the advantage in the blame game because usually their female victims are blamed for getting drunk, and for going to a fraternity party where they are in harm’s way. There are no witnesses who will talk. The creed is silence and protection of their fellow brother. If you are a man, ask yourself this question.¹²

What would you be capable of doing if you could be completely invisible and would not be held accountable or responsible for your actions? What if, in addition to the above listed conditions, you were also drunk, horny, aged 20, and there were half drunken girls around?

That’s the dynamic we need to change.

Drunkenness. Drunken fraternity brothers hurt themselves. For example, alcohol affects their grades and as they age, they may become alcoholics. But drunks also hurt others. It is a studied fact that fraternity leaders have a high rate of injury due to drinking accidents. Many fraternity members become life-long drunks because of the heavy drinking encouraged in fraternities. In a sense, I might almost be in favor of allowing fraternity men to drink themselves to death if they want but they not only hurt themselves. They are a danger to the women who stray into their houses. If the women become unconscious, they are in trouble. Fraternities need more supervision. The idea that they are supposed to be adults isn’t working.¹³

Perception of blame. The study, Bros Will Be Bros, cited earlier in this post, noted that fraternity members were blamed less and the victim blamed more for sexual assault if their fraternity status was known before the perceiver (one of over 400 students roped into this study) had viewed a sexual assault podcast. If the status of the perpetrator was not known then they judged the perpetrator as more guilty and the victim less guilty. In other words, fraternity members were judged less guilty than non-fraternity members just because they belonged to a fraternity. This disparity could contribute to rape culture because it allows fraternity brothers to internalize the feeling that they can “get away with” sexual assault. A famous incident comes to mind. It involved President Trump declaring, “When you’re a star, they let you do it.”¹⁴

Additionally, the study found that there is a “Culture of Protection” present. Since fraternity members are known for their “rampant sexual escapades” the perceivers think that the victim should have “known better.” Perceivers may feel that women who associate with fraternity members put themselves in a dangerous environment and “get what they asked for.”

Hyper-Masculinity and Hegemonic Masculinity.

Men in fraternities are exposed to a specific type of masculinity, one that encourages them to view women, homosexuals, studious men, non-whites and poor people as having less human characteristics than their brothers. They are the chosen ones, the 2%. This limits them to only one view and prevents them from learning healthier opinions of masculinity that are more conducive to a full and successful life. Hegemonic masculinity encourages the depersonalization and exploitation of women, alcohol, drug abuse, and violent behavior.¹⁵

Where do we go from here?

Manhood is neither static nor timeless; it is historical. Manhood is not the manifestation of an inner essence; it is socially constructed. Manhood does not bubble up to consciousness from our biological makeup; it is created in culture. Manhood means different things at different times to different people.¹⁶

I must refrain from criticizing the concept of toxic masculinity that exists in today’s world. It is learned behavior; not intrinsic to men. As women gain relevance, we will gain the power to change this dynamic. We are the mothers, the wives, the lovers and the saviors of men as they are our fathers, our husbands, our lovers, and our protectors. It’s all learned behavior and it can change

“Sociologist Alfred Lee, one of the first to examine prejudice within the Greek system, stated in 1955 that “To the extent that Aryanism [within fraternities] persists, social fraternities represent a basic threat to democracy in the United States.” That the baton of political and economic success is passed largely through fraternity rites means the exclusion of many citizens.” The Century Foundation

A question we need to ask ourselves is do we want the modern fraternity to be a model for what leadership represents in America?

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White, Male and Privileged: The Paradox of the Modern Fraternity

The statistics are overwhelming and consistent as you will see from the studies noted below.

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The statistics are overwhelming and consistent as you will see from the studies noted below.

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