The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

Letters to the Editor: (11/4/11)

Friday, November 4, 2011 02:11

Pard Pride

As seniors at Lafayette, we have become troubled with the lack of perceptible school spirit our fellow students have here at Lafayette. We know that there is tremendous pride for this institution, but we struggle to see it.

Pride in our school is not just represented through attendance at athletic events, which clearly is lacking and requires incentive programs to attract spectators, but rather through constant representation of Lafayette in everyday settings. Daily we look around at our peers and see people wearing Bucknell, Duke, Elon, Saint Peter’s, and EVEN LEHIGH attire. While we respect that support for a friend or relative is being given by wearing those institutions’ apparel, we would like to ask what message does this portray for a visitor to walk onto our campus and see its students not wearing Lafayette gear? How would people feel if our Leopard walked around wearing another school’s logo?

We want to encourage a unified and cohesive community through our mutual pride in this institution. Visibly demonstrating this is an easy and simple first step towards achieving this. Attending athletic events en masse is another. We’ll get there, we know, but let’s start today! WE are Lafayette!

Thank you,

Carly Feiro, Matt Grandon, and Gwen Turner – Class of 2012

In Response to LGBTQ article

We at the Zeta Psi Fraternity disapprove of the remark that was made in our direction in the most recent issue of The Lafayette, which devalued our tolerance of the sexual orientation of prospective members.

A remark such as this has no rightful place in a “scholarly” paper as it is both uninformed and unwarranted. The Lafayette has no right to publish material which is libelous to the reputation of the Zeta Psi Fraternity, even if the remark only reflects the opinion of the quoted individual, and not the opinion of the newspaper’s staff.

The individual who was quoted should not be given the opportunity to make slanderous commentary on an issue which she has no point of reference, besides “what she heard.” Thus, The Lafayette has chosen to publish a remark based on hearsay, which denounces Zeta Psi, leaving the fraternity no opportunity to defend itself to the student body who read the article.

Furthermore, it is not the prerogative of every homosexual or bisexual individual at Lafayette to openly announce their sexual orientation to any fraternity, or to any other member of the student body for that matter. Zeta Psi welcomes members of the Lafayette College community of any sexual orientation to talk with the brothers about the fraternity, becoming a member or the principles of the fraternity.

In conclusion, we feel that the fraternity has been wrongly attacked and has been given a hurtful image to the student body. The fact that the paper has published this, knowing that the individual acted ignorantly toward the reputation of the fraternity and its current members, is unacceptable.

From,

The Zeta Psi Fraternity

In Response to Greek article

In response to the article “Trustees give Greeks three years to meet standards” published on October 28th, 2011, I would like to offer a few corrections and thoughts, as well as a call to action. The article states: “In a historic vote, the Board of Trustees has determined that, should the Greek system fail to meet the recommendations and objectives of the administration and faculty, the Greek system will face elimination.” This statement is invalid on several accounts.

First, let me address the failure to include all of the constituents involved with the creation of the recommendations and objectives. These statements were developed by students (both affiliated and independent), faculty, administrators, alumni and trustees. I find it outright slanderous and a complete disservice to the work of the Working Group that the article only mentioned “the administration and faculty” and failed to include the other constituents – constituents who not only make up the largest cohorts for the College, but also happen to wield tremendous power regarding the workings of the institution.

Second, regarding the statement that “the Greek system will face elimination,” I find the article’s conclusion to not only be premature, but also unfounded. In three years time, the College “will consider all options, including the elimination of Greek organizations from their campus,” to borrow the wording from Dr. Krivoski’s letter. More specifically, elimination is one possible piece that would be added to the table for consideration. That is not to say that that option will be chosen or not chosen. A lot can happen in three years. Hypothetically speaking, there is the potential for the Greek system to remain on campus. There is also the potential for it to be completely removed. There is even the potential for a hybrid decision. Furthermore, there is the possibility that additional time is given to decide upon the matter. The decision will be made based upon the evaluative measures outlined by the new working group which will be tasked with the responsibility to establish appropriate metrics and assessment procedures to ensure that the objectives outlined in Dr. Krivoski’s message are achieved. Three years from now, the article’s claim that the system will definitely face complete elimination may carry some validity (or not), but at this time, I cannot find enough evidence to support that conclusion.

The article also states that the “fate of Greek life at Lafayette is now in the hands of the Greeks, who will decide how they wish to respond.” I would like to forward the idea that this isn’t just an issue to be owned by the Greek community, but rather one that affects the entire campus and I would like to encourage the campus community to take ownership of it and assist the new working group in the best and most beneficial ways to further its goals. Moving forward requires a collective, therefore why don’t we begin now?

Respectfully submitted,

Matthew Grandon ‘12

President

Student Government

 

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

If you wish for your response to an article to be submitted as a letter to the editor, please email [email protected].
All Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *