The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/cornell-fraternities/)
Private text messages showcase a plan to create a Greek life “machine” in the Student Assembly that would shape the agenda of the governing body to be favorable to fraternities and block women’s health-related resolutions.
Absentee ballot applications obtained by The Sun show coordination between fraternities and alderperson-elects Patrick Kuehl ’24 and Clyde Lederman ’26 — who said they would look into whether fraternities could hold parties later into the night.
America has a serial killer. Most recently, it has claimed the life of one of our own students at Cornell. 1994. A young man was brutally beaten with a paddle, body-slammed and kicked in the chest repeatedly over the duration of a week. The resulting injuries were broken ribs, a lacerated kidney, a lacerated liver, his chest, neck, back, and arms so badly bruised that the counter coroner advised the family not to look at the body and brain bleeding, from which he ultimately died.
Oh, Fraternities. From their stupendously shitty taste in music to their toxic environment of elitist exclusivity to their growing count of associated rape cases and deaths, what’s not to love? Sorry if that was harsh, the hook has gotta be abrasive to weed out who really wants to read the entire thinkpiece, it’ll be worth it when you get to the body paragraphs. You understand, right? It’s a surprise to absolutely no one that Greek life, at universities all across the United States, is ridden with a plethora of serious problems. So why, in spite of this universal truth, are these organizations allowed continued existence; An existence that inherently grants them power and authority?
How do we create institutional change? At a University that has existed since 1865, we fall victim to systemic problems that persisted since long before the conception of Cornell. When evaluating the campus problems we seek solutions for — issues that affect one, many or all Cornellians — the sheer length of the list makes taking action seem overwhelming and unachievable. But what if we take one of the institutional problems we are facing and put forth a conversation and some action items to begin to tackle it? Many organizations on this campus, like Cornell Minds Matter, are champions of this approach and are creating positive institutional change.