Pissing match could have been avoided

It appears Pullman has its own Ken Schram in the form of Evergreen columnist Scott Darragh. In a column published on Feb. 3rd, Darragh took aim and awarded his “Golden Spitter” to the Greek community.

It was an interesting article, to say the least.

For the sake of brevity, I won’t go into too much detail about the article itself. It’s linked above. But suffice it to say: Mr. Darragh’s view of the Greeks is less than positive.

Darragh said they demand social mass-conformity, the “bro” ideal. Greeks exist entirely to drink “natty” and hit “slam pieces.” Aside: I had never heard the term “slam piece” before this article. It gave me a chuckle, but was wasn’t very rhetorically soothing.

It read like an incredibly one sided, narrow view of the community. But that’s not really what I’m writing about. I’m writing about the little pissing match that followed.

Nearly immediately, letters firing back against Darragh’s assertions were published. WSU student Paul Harrison countered that Greeks routinely beat average GPA’s for other communities and do considerable charity work.

Natty ice slam piece?

Kellen LaVigne, president of Beta Theta Pi, countered that Greeks are involved in all aspects of university life. Wherever you look, he wrote, you will find someone Greek.

Ok. Defending yourself is perfectly acceptable. It’s what anybody does when they are attacked. But, here’s my issue with this. Instead of firing back that Greeks are better academically and Greeks are CEO’s and generally important people, couldn’t they have denied the generalization but affirmed the notion?

To say drinking isn’t some kind of an issue beyond the reaches of Colorado Street is to deny reality. In that vein, to say that all Greeks want to do is get shitty also denies reality. But this could have been a more positive moment.

Why not, then, use this as an opportunity to reach out to the greater university community? Separate fact from fiction, while still affirming the realities of the situation. Tell students that Greek life isn’t all about drinking, but that problems have arisen from irresponsible use. Talk about the high GPA, but put that in the context of the size of the community and the fact it’s selective.

Defend your community. Defend your way of life. That’s totally fine. But can’t someone please, FOR THE CHILDREN, affirm reality every once in a while.

Another aside: It seems the author of the column seems to have proven one of his points: there is a divide between the communities on campus. And by trying to elevate themselves above the rest, the authors of the published letters dug an even deeper trench.