On Thursday, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs cosponsored a Diversity Dialogue with the Greek Programming Board on diversity in Greek life. The event focused upon social justice in Greek life and is the start of a once-a-semester series on the subject.
While a step in the right direction after several high profile incidents in the last few months, we simply don’t think it is enough.
To start with, attendance was not mandatory in most cases. It can be argued that mandatory attendance would lead to a more hostile atmosphere and blatant disregard for the subject at hand, but it does limit the potential impact of the training.
And, given well-documented race and class-based disparities in Greek life compared to the general population, social justice should at least be discussed to a much greater extent than it was. It is particularly important in light of recent flare-ups in the last year from Oklahoma to Yale to Indiana that are stirring nationwide outrage.
The dialogues are definitely a step in the right direction, but the first one barely touched upon conventional social justice issues — race, gender identity and sexual orientation, misogyny — in favor of hazing. Fluff stories were given as much attention as dead pledges, transphobia, and rape.
If this were the start of a monthly or weekly series, it could be justified. But given the time scale between the initial meeting and the next, it seems odd to focus on the somewhat trivial criticisms of Greek life.
The event would have been a good start to a serious conversation, but 75 minutes a semester is not enough to tackle the issue — especially without comprehensive discussion.