A week ago, I had a lot of opinions about fraternities at Amherst that were largely in support of the Board’s decision to enforce the previous ban. This stemmed mostly from my personal experience of everyday misogyny and alienation at Amherst, but has been further bolstered by the confirmation of that same experience on the part of the countless other women I’ve talked to who went or still go there today.
This piece was written from my own perspective as a member of the Sigma (Amherst College) Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. It is not intended to be a broad defense of Greek life in America or even other chapters of my fraternity. It speaks only to my experience with my DKE brothers and to their role in my life.
I haven’t told most of my extended family or anyone in my hometown the status of my sexuality. I hope they don’t discover this article, as most of those people are wildly uninformed. But if they do, so be it.
The Judiciary Council has voted to void the results of the Association of Amherst Students presidential election, leaving the AAS temporarily without a president.
We ask our fellow members of the Amherst community to stand with us in opposition to yesterday’s resolution regarding fraternities. We are not against the fundamental spirit of the Board of Trustees’ decision. We respect their attempt to improve social life on campus, but this arbitrary and undemocratic manner of change carries with it troubling implications.
America has a sweet tooth. Today, the average American consumes 3,550 pounds of sugar — the equivalent of 1,767,900 Skittles — over his or her lifetime. From assorted chocolates on Valentine’s Day to trick-or-treating on Halloween, nearly all American holidays are celebrated with some sugary sweets.
Noah Gordon ’14 writes in response to the 4/25 JC ruling and the current state of the AAS.
The Judiciary Council ruling of 4/25 and the current conversation about holding a new election are incredibly problematic. While some of the motivations behind the original elections complaint were completely valid, the conflict now boils down to a mean-spirited, procedural witch hunt with worrying implications.
The Trustee’s Office emailed students yesterday informing them of a decision by the Board of Trustees to prohibit participation in fraternities, sororities and “fraternity-like and sorority-like organizations,” including off campus. The decision arrives exactly thirty years after the Trustees in 1984 banned all on-campus fraternities.
