Going After Black Frats

HARVARD'S recently announced investigation of campus Black fraternities and sororities is as Kappa Alpha Psi President Jay Grant '89 put it, "hilarious".

According to Dean Archie C. Epps III, an investigation would be based on these groups' "hazing" practices, judging them by the Massachusetts anti-hazing statue that went into effect last year. This statute only bars, "brutal treatment or forced physical activity...which subjects such student or other person to extreme mental stress."

Yet the fraternities and sororities are completely voluntary, very much like Harvard final clubs. Thus, it is quite difficult to see where any activity they engage in can be the cause of extreme mental stress--anyone has the option to terminate their relations with the fraternity or sorority at any time.

Why is the administration suddenly concerned for the academic success of Black pledgees and so ready to criticize the length of time students spend pledging, with all the other time-consuming extracurriculars and clubs Harvard students are immersed in?

It is troubling that Epps, Harvard's only Black dean, and thus, one who is obviously familiar with the activities of Blacks in higher education, purports to be unaware of the practices of Black fraternities and sororities. One can only be amused when he states, "Apparently students are required to walk in step in al line all of them stepping together wherever they go. It appears to me that such regimentation is abridgement in spirit of individuality."

If one has chosen to walk in a line, than doing so is not an abridgement of anything. If I choose to walk on my tiptoes, I do so by choice. And if it does not hurt anyone around me, despite how tired I might get and how stupid I might look, it is my choice. Perhaps in another plane of existence, vaguely familiar to our own, one might hear a certain dean being appalled at the farcical practice of "punching" as an abridgement of human dignity.

The anti-hazing statute, if applied in all fairness to Black fraternities and sororities, would not consider the rather silly practice of "going on line," at least as it exists on this campus, as "brutal."

THE practice of "hazing" at these Black fraternities and sororities is a tradition that goes almost as far back as the existence of many of Harvard's elitist final clubs. The Black groups go back to the time of collegiate segregation, which unfortuantely, is not so far back for Harvard. They were started at some of the nation's oldest universities, such as Fisk and Tuskeegee. These organizations survived in the face of great societal injustice and provided Black men and women with a place to belong.

Epps should be aware, whether he is a Kappa, Omega, Alpha or Signet club member, that the Black fraternity and sorority is an instituion of survival. Specifically, these organizations were and continue to be bastions of Black culture, society and lifestyle, both the good and the not-so-good.

If Harvard is truly the diverse atmosphere it claims to be, then it is definitely interested in preserving some of this culture. It should also want to respect the lifestyle and divergent needs of its Black newcomers. An institution that once so vehemently denied the admission of many Blacks should not turn around to admit Black students and then proceed to cast doubt on segments of their culture, simply because the administration lacks an adequate understanding of it. Such action, as evidenced by a doubt-casting investigation, shows that Harvard is bending over backwards to demonstrate disrespect.

It is true that on a number of campuses, hazing is a traumatic practice undergone by "pledgees," but the voluntary nature of going "on-line" makes it, for many college students, a memorable and a bonding experience.

Unlike the final clubs, Black fraternities and sororities were established initially as societies for co-ed socializing and community service. All of the Black groups are some of the nation's biggest backers of higher education for Black Americans and sponsors of scholarships. Many are tied to local communities through involvement in financial and social support groups.

EPPS' displeasure with the fraternities' use of Harvard facilities is very questionable. The only reason the final clubs are located in the middle of campus is that they had enough money to buy their way into the Square. Moving Black fraternities and sororities' meetings off campus would, in effect, push out a significant portion of Black social life.

If unfair restrictions are successfully placed on Black fraternities and sororities, that have less money and resources than the well-protected, well-endowed final clubs and other similarly exclusive organizations, what would be next? There are still several other Black causes the administration can go after, investigate and perhaps even invalidate. Look at the way Harvard stuck by investing in apartheid.

Harvard University needn't question why minority student enrollment is down and why Black students at this University become so disgruntled with its hiring, tenuring and educational procedures. The answer is all too evident.