Syracuse University has suspended all social activities of fraternities on campus after members and guests of a fraternity yelled a racial epithet at a black woman on Saturday night. The decision to suspend all fraternity social activities along with the suspension of the specific fraternity involved in this racist incident was a necessary action that had to take place.

“While only one fraternity may have been involved in this particular incident, given recent history, all fraternities must come together with the university community to reflect upon how to prevent recurrence of such seriously troubling behavior,” Chancellor Syverud said in a campus-wide email.

Many people have argued that this decision is a way to place blame on someone — that the male Greek system is Syracuse’s scapegoat for the disgusting events that have taken place on campus in the past two weeks.

These ignorant responses to the suspension neglect to take into account the entire situation. The suspension of male Greek activity on campus is the first step in a long series of changes that need to be made on SU’s campus in order to reinstate a safe environment for those studying and working here.

Fraternity is defined as “the state or feeling of friendship and mutual support within a group.” Instead the word “fraternity” has been used since the time of British imperialism to design a facade of brotherhood.

The male Greek system should be an amazing way to give this word a new connotation. But the devastating truth at Syracuse University is that the male Greek system only seems to deepen these prejudiced notions in the community.

Fraternities at SU have a history of racial prejudice. In April of 2018, a Syracuse fraternity was suspended over a video which was “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and hostile to people with disabilities.”

Members of Greek life should embrace this suspension as a chance to unify with the rest of the university to create some true lasting change and to ensure that #NotAgainSU becomes #NeverAgainSU.

Kailey Norusis is a freshman English literature and history major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at kmnorusi@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter @Knorusis.

Published on November 20, 2019 at 10:11 am

Contact Kailey: kmnorusi@syr.edu