Don’t judge all fraternities on one individual’s actions
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 30, 1995 9:00 p.m.
Don’t judge all fraternities on one individual’s actions
I am sorry that we are not the angels you expect us to be and I
am sorry for the actions of individuals who give fraternities a bad
name.
By Mark Jutabha
In response to Liane Pritikin’s ignorant fraternity bashing
("Fraternity key gives ‘legacy’ a bad name," Jan. 26), I have this
to say.
You offend not only myself, but every brother on campus with
your inferences and accusations. You judge the entire fraternal
system on the actions of one individual and assume we are all
networking to cheat.
I cannot speak for every individual fraternity member in saying
that we all do not cheat; nobody is perfect. I am sorry that we are
not the angels you expect us to be and I am sorry for the actions
of individuals who give fraternities a bad name.
However, I am not sorry for being a brother. We are who we are
because we have like goals and like interests. Those goals and
interests are represented through our respective fraternities,
organizations that live by a creed of honor, brotherhood and
community.
You think all we do is party, sing degrading songs, live in our
own little world and care only about ourselves. Sure. And when
we’re not being social heathens, we find other ways to further
degrade our name … like feeding the homeless, staging a
food/clothes drive for earthquake victims or collecting toys for
children.
Liane, you are correct in stating that unless you were a member,
you would not understand why we exist. However, do not further
insult me by saying, "Maybe I should disguise myself as a boy and
join a fraternity … never have to study … and get an instant
GPA."
Your words patronize me by naming fraternities as scapegoats for
your anger over a cheater who got caught. Would you have written
such a viewpoint if Noah Balch was not affiliated with a
fraternity? I found myself agreeing with most of your arguments
early on in your viewpoint, but I have to say, any serious point to
be made was flushed down the tubes with the tangential reference to
"90210." Thanks for the recap, by the way; I missed that
episode.
For the future references of any other critic of fraternities
… please don’t knock what you don’t understand.
Jutabha is a second-year political science student.
