g CAMPUS OriJVIOJV
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
By choosing to live off campus
we were unaware of Uie events
that occurred surrounding the
TKE fraternity serenading the
underclassmen dorms on cam
pus. We lived on campus otir
first two years at Meredith and
when serenades occurred it
brought cheer to our sometimes
hindered spirits due to the mid
week stress of classes and
schoolwork. Seeing that the
boys do not serenade but twice a
year tiiis is a usually welcomed
non college sanctioned tradition.
Before coming to Meredith, we
heard stories of Comhuskin',
Stunt, and even the serenading
boys. Some of these stories
came from Mrs. Monaghan,
Katie's mother and graduate of
the class of 1975. She told us of
the famous PIKA fire truck that
would circle the Meredith mile
honking, and the singing boys of
other greek fratemitys pinning
their sweetheart. The key ph^e
for the recruitment of new MC
angels is "you just have to expe
rience it." Does that phrase not
mean experience all that is
Meredith, college approved or
not? In the almost thirty years
that has past, the Meredith com
munity has worked very hard to
open our campus to the commu
nity and link ourselves with
North Carolina State University
through the CRC program. If we
are not going to open our campus
to them, as mundane as a sere
nade may be, why should they
allow us to participate in NCSU
activities? The moment a male
drives through the front gates of
Meredith he becomes a minority
on our campus. With current
push for diversity and imity
should we not be open to ALL
minorities present on campus? If
you do not like boys or fraterni
ties, what makes your opinion
more importarn than anyone
else's? Traditionally Meredith
has been regarded as a sister
hood, which, thoi^h not bound
by greek letters, is very similar
to the brotherhood of any frater
nity. We do not want this tradi
tion die due to the actions of
one individual. If our children
choose to go to Meredith we do
not want them to miss out on a
tradition that we and many other
students and alumnae hold so
dear. Even thoi:^ we were not
on campus when this event
occurr^ we will be writing a
letter of apology to TKE for the
rude misrepresentation of
Meredith College and its stu
dents.
Katie Monaghan and Jennifer
Smith (2005)
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter in
response to the three letters writ
ten in the October 29,2003 issue
of the Meredith Herald about the
water>throwing incident. I am
appalled at the entire situation.
However there are a few things
that bother me more than others.
First, there is a mention by
one of the students that fr^it boys'
singing at her dorm room was
something that she didn't want
going on, quote, "on my cam
pus". I would just like to say
that this campus belongs to more
than just ONE person. It belongs
to all the girls that attend this
college, all the professors and
everyone in the community that
would like to enjoy its beauty.
Secondly, it may annoy some
people that the TKE boys come
to Meredith to sing, but it is a
traditional thing at Meredith that
happens every year. AND it
lasts all of ten whole minutes.
BIGDEAL![! The frat boys
coming to sing to us is no sup
posed to be made into that big of
a deal. You don't have to listen,
and you don't have to participate.
If you are annoyed by it.. .don’t
come out of your room! It is
simply innocent fiin. It isn't a
promotion for sexual harassment
and binge drinking. If you are
against binge drinking and sexual
harassment, do an article on
those particular things. Don't
ruin a simple tradition that goes
on at Meredith just to prove your
point. Also, it is totally fine if
you are ^^nst binge drinking.
That is your opinion and as a
matter of fact so am I, howev
er.... TKE doesn't come to
Meredith with the idea, "lets get
some girls to come to our parties
so we can get them drunk and
sexually harass them." Yes, they
want people to come to their fi«
parties.... but what fraternity
doesn't. They come here and
sing b/c it's funny to have guys
come to an all girls' school and
embarrass themselves by singing.
The entire thing is meant to ^
funny and AGAIN not that big of
a deal. Yes, sexual harassment is
a HUGE deal.... but, it takes two
people and no one holds anyone
down and MAKES them get
drunk!! So don't put it all off on
frat boys as if they are setting out
to do this.
Next, I personally don’t think
that the water was thrown
because the girl who threw it was
gay. However I do believe that it
is the most immature thing 1
have ever heard of. This is a
women's college and we are sup
posed to be women...not imma
ture teenagers. We are supposed
to be grown up and know how to
act. And if we don't know how to
handle a situation that we disap
prove, and don't won't on cam
pus, better than throwing water
on people than we have a lot of
growing up to do. I think that
everyone was suiprised by what
happened because a lot of peo
ple, including myself, were just
^azed that someone would do
something like that when we are
college students...not third
graders that don't know how to
handle our problems. I mean, I
personally don't want a Spectrum
club at the college that 1 go to. I
fwl like it promotes and stands
for things that! don't believe
should be promoted, but you
don't see me taking a cup of
water and throwing it at the
members of Ae club. I treat
everyone the same and even
thoi^h I am "annoyed" by cer
tain things that the club stands
for, I don't discriminate against
any member of that club. And 1
certainly don't do immature
things to speak out against them,
f have my opinion and express it
in a mature way. 1 feel alx)ut the
Spectrum club, the way that the
people who wrote that letters to
the editor feel about binge drink
ing and fi^temities. The big dif
ference though is how the two
opinions were handled. And let
me add that the priorities at
Meredith are not aproblem!! The
frat boys singii^ takes up at the
most ten minutes of your college
life. And certainly, ten minutes
shouldn't affect us becoming
educated aware women at
Meredith College.
Lastly, I would like to wrap up
by saying that this entire situa
tion is stupid to waste so much
time on. There are so many
more thit^ in our lives that we
should be worried about. My
mom was recently diagnosed
wifli breast cancer, and ever
since the reality hit that I could
lose my best friend in the entire
world to a disease that doesn't
discriminate, I have learned that
the some things just aren’t worth
stressing over. You want to be
annoyed? Try goit^ through an
entire year of chemotherapy and
radiation and watch your best
fnend lose all her strength and
feel like dying. That's annoying
and stressful, not a ten minute
singing session ui the courtyard
You should enjoy things in life
that you take for granted, and
take advantage of them why you
can. Ek>n't waste your time
stressing your life over some
thing like fr« boys singing for
ten minutes in the courtyard.
When something small like that
annoys you just think about how
much worse things could be,
smile, and thank God that you
are here today, healthy, and able
to enjoy all the little things in
life.
Sincerely,
Casey Lynne Wilson
Dear Editor,
I wanted to write to voice my
support for "Bothered in
Brewer". I am a member of
Spectrum and I did not feel
offended by her letter. No where
in the letter did it directly attack
homosexuals or the Spectrum
club. In fact, if you recall, she
said that the "club" was" vital to
Meredith's campus". I feel like
what was said was distorted by
the response letters. The problem
had nothing to do with any stu
dent's sexual orientation, it had
everything to do with flie stereo
types made gainst frat boys.
The water thrower said,
"Heterosexist in assuming that
everyone wants them", and "the
fraternity participates in under
age binge drinking during their
rush week and they come to
recruit freshmen to come to their
parties and participate in under
age binge drinking." She said
that TKE doesn't necessarily
embody these traits but she still
took action based on the assump
tion that they did. The definition
of a hate crime is "a crime moti
vated by prejudice against a
social group." In my opinion,
stereotypes were made about the
fi^temity and actions were taken
based on those stereotypes. Isn't
that a hate crime? The main
problem was that the act
occurred, not the sexual orienta
tion, race, or ethnicity of the peo
ple that did it It was also said
that "the reason why it was done
was because they stood up for
the common belief that fraterni
ties should not be on campus at
that time," and" it was making a
small statement against some
thing I did not want on my cam
pus." First off, the frat boys
coming to serenade has been a
Meredith tradition for several
generations. It is an important
tradition to many girls just as
Comhuskin, Father Daughter
Dance, Charming Evenii^ and
Ring Dinner are. Secondly, just
because I don't w^t something
on our campus does not give me
the right to resort to name calling
and inapprq}riate, juvenile
actions. Thirdly, it is not only
one persons campus. Over 600
students live on campus. It is
their campus too. People do
enjoy them coming. It is not fair
for one student to ruin something
that many other students enjoy
just because "they do not want
them here." Just because you get
annoyed at something does not
give you the right to take action
against it. Welcome to college,
you're not always going to have
peace and quiet, things won't
always go your way. Get over it
and grow up,
Spectrum Supporter
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