[15291] in APO-L
Re: As an Eagle must fly, so must we.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Deborah Cherry)
Wed Nov 6 17:47:06 1996
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 17:42:44 -0500
Reply-To: Deborah Cherry <dc30+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU>
From: Deborah Cherry <dc30+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <Added.omUE82q00UddIiSU4j@andrew.cmu.edu>
Excerpts from internet.aphio: 6-Nov-96 Re: As an Eagle must fly, s..
Bill Smith@VOICENET.COM (4529)
> There are good reasons why all male chapters shouldn't go be
> forced to go co-ed. One of the first is tradition, which is the case at
> my chapter at least. Since we were founded, a number of traditions were
> started. If forced to go co-ed, I personally know that some traditions
> at my chapter would either have to be discontinued or changed in some
> way which no one should have to do. I'm not sure if this is the case at
> all all-male chapters, but I'm sure it is for a good deal of them at
> least.
While I don't neccessarily advocate forcing all-male chapters to go
co-ed (and you later mention a very valid concern with GSS and the like
that affects at least several chapters), I'm curious as to what kind of
traditions a chapter would have that would have to be changed solely
because the the chapter went co-ed, besides the tradition of not
admitting women. Off hand, I can't think of anything unless it involves
nudity and/or statements/acts that could be construed as sexual
harassment. I'm not saying that these are what you mean, but I'm having
trouble conceptulizing this.
If there were traditions in ANY chapter that involved either of those
areas, that's a problem regardless of the make-up of the chapter
One thing for every brother/chapter to think about- Just because
something is "tradition" doesn't mean it's good/appropriate/achieves
anything. Traditions are supposed to serve a point (like doing a project
that the campus has come to expect, strengthening feelings of
brotherhood, reminding the chapter of an important event, etc.). If a
tradition (any kind) is not serving a purpose (or the purpose you think
it should be serving), maybe it's time the chapter re-evaluate that
tradition and see if it needs to change in a way so that it will
continue to have meaning. Doing something "just because it's a
tradition" does not achieve anything. Just think about the following
sentence "But we always do the <X> Party for Rush, even though we never
get any Rushees."
I'm not trying to bash any particular traditions (including all-male
chapters). Just encouraging people to think about what a tradition means
and why you do it (and is it still relevant).
Yours in LFS,
Debbie Cherry
Alumni, Kappa Chapter, Carnegie Mellon University
Section 62 Staff
dc30@andrew.cmu.edu
