If It Drinks Like A Frat ...
By ha-mace (Chief Contributor) Tags: The Collegian, Kappa Alpha Order, Fraternities, Frats
3:38 PM
According to Kappa Alpha Order member Daniel Alexander, the word 'frat' is "rife with derogatory sentiments and slanderous undertones." Is this common abbreviation really that offensive?
The Collegian likes to throw around words like "objective" and "unbiased" when they talk about their reporting. But in Thursday's edition someone finally called them out on their clear agenda and the epithets they use on a regular basis. I hesitate to repeat the word The Collegian used in a recent story, but ignoring the problem will not fix it - we must face these degrading words head on. Of course the word I'm referring to is "frat" ... wait ... seriously?!
Today's Collegian contains a letter to the editor from Kappa Alpha Order member Daniel Alexander entitled "'Frat' is not the right word for Penn State fraternities." In it, Alexander says the word frat is inappropriate for The Collegian to use because it "is rife with derogatory sentiments and slanderous undertones." He also says that the term is found to be offensive to the group The Collegian is reporting on ... the frats fraternities themselves.
Alexander's point is that the term frat implies that the members of the Greek community are "frat boys" rather than "fraternity men." He doesn't come right out and say it, but I can only assume Alexander is saying the use of the word frat brings up images of guys that do nothing but drink and party all the time, and apparently that's not what fraternity members, or at least the members of Kappa Alpha Order, do. Right?
Yea, I think we all know that's not exactly the case. The image most people have of a "frat" is basically accurate. Sure, they raise money for THON (so do a lot of other groups) and I believe they have a higher GPA, on average, than the rest of the student population. But let's not ignore that they throw more parties and (although there's no way to prove this) drink way more often than the rest of the student population. Regardless of what Roy Baker says, if you're a freshman girl on campus and you want to go drinking, your best bet is probably to go to a frat. Oh, and I'm thinking they probably, on average, attack more Ohio State fans with beer cans than the rest of the student population too.
What makes me say this? Well a couple of things. First, take a look at the article from The Collegian Alexander is referring to. At no point in the article (except the headline) does the reporter use the word "frat." But, "frat" is used twice by other students interviewed for the piece. The average person (fraternity member or not) is going to refer to a fraternity as a frat, and that's just how it is.
The other thing is, oh I don't know, maybe the pictures above. Don't get me wrong (I'm sure you will), I'm not saying there's anything wrong with drinking ... it's kinda what you do in college. But don't try to pretend that frat members aren't some of the biggest drinkers on campus, don't you sort of pride yourself on that? The above pictures were taken from Kappa Alpha's website, and you'll notice that the fourth picture is PhotoShopped to blur what is (probably) beer in the members' hands. Why would you blur that out, unless you were trying to hide something? And I'm sure the argument will be "you don't know what's in those cups." OK, you got me there. Also notice the words "blow me" on the back of someone's back in photo #2. Classy!
There's one last thing which makes me come to the conclusion that "frat" is the appropriate term to use, and it's a quote from the Facebook of none other than Dan Alexander, writer of today's letter to the editor:
"There are three types of people in this world: those who make stuff happen, those who watch what happens, and those who throw back a few beers and wonder what the f*ck happened."
I'm going to go ahead and say frat members fall into category three.
Comments 
When I read the letter this morning, my first thought was that this guy didn't come up with this on his own. Sure enough.....
Dr. Baker discussed risk management issues as well as the responsibility of fraternity members at Penn State to act like Fraternity men, not “frat boys”.
http://www.alphasigpsu.org/ProgressRpt03_05-20-08/AHome.htm
scroll down about 2/3 of the way to the bottom to find the quoted material.
If you ever find yourself in a position of being hazed or pressured into acting against your will, go with your gut and the good morals your parents taught you. And do not ever consider dehumanizing another human being for the sake of "bonding".
I'm counting on you to do your very best to change the Greek mentality!.
In the preamble, there is some lip service to education. It states, "Our role in the community is significant: by embracing inclusiveness, we demonstrate positive leadership, committed service, and academic excellence." How does 'inclusiveness' relate to academic excellence? It's not really clear. That's just a bunch of buzzwords to make the readers feel good about themselves.
If you read the rest of that document, there are two mentions of education, and both have to do with educating Greeks about how to fill leadership roles within the Greek community and nothing about how they might want to promote learning.
The administration sees the greek system as an excuse students use to blow off class, start partying on Thursday and not stop until Sunday night. Faculty and TAs look down on frats and sororities because most of the time one of their students mentions they're in a frat, it's in the context of trying to get more time on an assignment, an excuse for missing a class, or some lame justification for not doing well in their course. Other undergrads look down on the greek system for those reasons and more.
I dont see anything in that statement that even attempts to address any of those issues.
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