UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, September 19, 1995
5A
Editor's note: The following letters are all in response to the Kansan's coverage of the Delta Chi fraternity incident. We tried to keep the letters as close as possible to their original length. We encourage any additional comments from the student body. All letters should be double-spaced, typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters should include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number, plus class and hometown if a KU student.
Kansan overlooks Greek contributions
As members of a Greek organization at the University of Kansas, we are appalled by the coverage of the alleged Delta Chi hazing incident. We do not believe hazing has a place in Greek life; however, the investigation involving the Delta Chi chapter is still pending and no allegations have been proven. Despite this, the University Daily Kansan printed two front page articles about the incident last week. Perhaps the most offensive piece the Kansan printed about the incident was the cartoon that ran in the Tuesday, Sept. 12, issue. The cartoon was utterly tasteless and completely unethical.
Greek organizations and events at KU have long been overlooked by the Kansan. KU's greek system is very strong and benefits the campus in many ways. A number of campus leaders are greek. Scholarship and charitable events are placed first in most greek chapters. Greek organizations spend countless hours on community service and other philanthropic events. Why is none of this given frontpage coverage in the campus newspaper?
We do not believe that greek organizations can do no wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. However, the bad actions should not be the sole topics of articles about the greeks. If you're going to exploit the negative things the Greeks do,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
you better make sure you cover the positive actions equally.
■ Amanda Abney
Tulsa, Okla., junior
■ Lisa Berry
Tulsa, Okla., senior
■ Cortney DeBasile
Mission Hills senior
■ Danielle Kuhn
Wichita senior
■ Kayle McBowan
Overland Park senior
■ Jenny Stevens
Lenexa senior
Investigation keeps other side quiet
We are in no way commending hazing, but we feel that the Kansan is damaging the reputation of not only Delta Chi but also the entire Greek system. No new information has been released since the initial accusation, so we see no point in continually churning out one-sided articles that do not serve to the betterment of anyone.
We are writing to your publication in response to the editorial cartoon and article that appeared on Sept. 12, 1995. The cartoon is highly slanderous and could prove detrimental to the due process of the investigation involving the Delta Chi fraternity. You have disappointed us by presenting the student body with such a tainted view of the greek system. Since the investigation remains inconclusive, it is unprofessional for such a highly renowned and circulated publication to publish material of this kind. The articles printed in the Kansan that are related to this incident are based on unverified, unofficial information. The facts of the case will not be released until the IFC and the University have closed the investigation.
Due to the circumstances surrounding the investigation, the members of the Delta Chi fraternity are regrettably unable to comment. The confidentiality demanded by the situation unfortunately allows only one side of the story to be heard. The Kansan has failed to emphasize that the individuals involved have chosen to continue their pledgeship with the fraternity.
Monday Bennett
Ft. Scott junior
Christine Dixon
Wichita senior
Jennifer Fortney
Wichita junior
Cartoon was tasteless and irresponsible
This letter is in regard to the cartoon appearing in the Sept. 12 *Kansan* titled, "Yard Work—Delta Chi Style." Allowing this cartoon to appear in the paper was irresponsible in several respects. To begin with, the depiction of a Delta Chi pledge, seemingly near death while receiving dialysis is absurd. He is a student at this University, and to make fun of his serious condition lacks taste. Also, this cartoon leads the reader to believe that Delta Chi has been found guilty of the hazing charges. The official investigation lasts until Thursday. Regardless of its guilt or innocence, Delta Chi is entitled to a fair investigation. Finally, this cartoon is an inadequate depletion of fraternity life at the University of Kansas. Although unfortunate incidents of hazing occur on campus from time to time, it would be difficult to find any acts as severe as the ones suggested in the cartoon. As usual, the media has overshadowed countless hours of community service and goodwill with one alleged act of mistreatment. Because the only mention of Greeks in the media is almost always negative, average citizens and students are ignorant about what fraternities have to offer. I've been a student here for more than one year, and I have yet to read one positive thing about the greek system. Every year, Greeks provide thousands of hours of community service for Rock Chalk Revue; nevertheless,the *Kansan* seems to overlook these numbers. This does not even mention the unrecognized amount of support and advice that the Greek system provides for young men and women on the road to the real world. Most important, the *Kansan* owes students a fair assessment of what is happening at KU. The *Kansan* has not fulfilled this responsibility. Neither hazing nor irresponsible, distasteful journalism has any place on this campus.
Mike Walden
Leawood sophomore
Misleading articles were unprofessional
The Kansan has had another display of its perversion of the truth, the lack of knowledge regarding it University situation and the irresponsible reporting that so often graces their editorial pages, I am making reference to the editorial about hazing at the University that appeared Tuesday and the disturbing cartoon that accompanied it.
Never before have I seen such a gross misinterpretation of a situation. I understand that the purpose of an editorial cartoon is to provide satire and poke fun at a topic, but the cartoon clearly crossed the line between journalism and tastelessness. As a journalistic enterprise, the Kansan staff should take caution when adding their own interpretation and printing misleading information about events, whether they be on- or off-campus. The cartoon showed a lack of taste, a lack of professionalism and showed poor judgment on the part of the artist and the editor.
The negative images of greeks that have been portrayed during the past weeks are uncalled for and I sincerely hope that the Kansan makes an honest attempt to print positive stories about the greek system. Rarely does a week go by that a fraternity or a sorority is not sponsoring a philanthropy for some organization in the community. The student body would be hard-pressed to find even a sentence printed about the thousands of dollars that are raised each semester by greeks at the University. In August, a KU fraternity sponsored a music event that attracted thousands of Lawrence citizens and brought in tens of thousands of dollars for the fraternity's philanthropy, but only mild coverage was printed on the success of the event and the fact that it was a Greek-sponsored event.
In addition to negative reporting, the editorial on hazing was an example of irresponsible reporting in that several of the views expressed by the author were wrong. The author commented on the University's flexibility when handling hazing situations and the lack of an avenue for which fraternity members could report hazing incidents. If the author had done her research, she would have seen without a doubt that Interfraternity Council, the University administration and even the Delta Chi undergraduates acted swiftly and wisely in handling the situation. And it is ingrained in the minds of every Greek that the University and IFC have zero tolerance for hazing. Please do not brand a scarlet letter
on the greek system because of this one event of alleged hazing. Instead, as a student-run, student-supported and student-read newspaper, the Kansan should be going to great lengths to enhance the image of the KU student body instead of glamorizing its shortfalls. Please continue in your award-winning tradition of quality reporting and give the student body something good to read about the Greek community. There is a lot of pride in the houses on campus, many of which have been here almost as long as the University itself. Our contributions to the community, the University and the students should not be overlooked by our only outlet for positive publicity, the Kansan.
Please understand that my intention in writing this letter is not to defend hazing, nor support negligence by Greeks but merely to bring to light what many members of the Greek community feel is negative publicity for a student organization that includes thousands of KU students and thousands of faithful readers of the Kansan. Please do us justice and let us read some good news about ourselves instead of the negative images that we have become so accustomed to.
Noah Marquardt Shawnee junior
Kansan indulged in fraternity bashing
As I looked over the Sept. 11 edition of the University Daily Kansan, I couldn't help but take offense at the way our award winning student newspaper handled the recent accusations of hazing at the Delta Chi house. Not only was the political cartoon a tasteless cheap shot at a fraternity that has a proven, distinguished record at the University of Kansas, but the accompanying editorial was nothing but extreme, anti-fraternity propaganda that failed to offer anything but a draconian, unrealistic solution to a problem that merits serious and thoughtful consideration.
For most students at KU, the cartoon depicted on page 4A may provoke a few chuckles, but there are some facts unrevealed to many that make this cartoon and the way that it has been used particularly offensive. It is easy for the author of this work, Robert Tapley, to cower under anonymity to those who don't know that he is a member of the fraternity across the street from the Delta Chi house.
There is certainly no excuse for sending two pledges to the hospital, and there is obviously no way to pardon the actions of the Delta Chi's, if they are indeed guilty of harming these two freshmen. However, shutting the Delta Chi's down and immediately kicking them off campus is no way to deal with this situation, as the "Viewpoint" article suggests.
As a member of a KU fraternity, I am aware of the dangers of hazing and feel that there is certainly no way to condone its occurrence. For some time, fraternities have acted both nationally and locally through groups such as IFC to find solutions to this serious problem. Hazing has no overnight, magical cure, but there are already longstanding efforts underway to rid the Greek system of this embarrassing dilemma.
Heather Lawrenz advocates banishing any fraternity guilty of hazing from our campus on the first offense, no matter what. There is no excuse for hazing, but this is like killing the patient to cure the disease. Despite mostly wittess rhetoric, there is one good suggestion in this article. The author is absolutely correct to propose proactive work to end hazing. We should continue KU's reputation for excellence and innovation by earnestly working to develop thoughtful, pragmatic and original policies that deal with the cause of this problem instead of simply closing houses. Hidden in this unfortunate incident is a genuine opportunity to develop new methods and programs that would be the envy of other academic institutions. Whatever happened over at Delta Chi, let's use this incident as an opportunity to build a stronger Greek system rather than to adopt policies founded in nothing but poorly considered reactionary frat-bashing as proposed by Lawrenz. While there is no way to condone hazing in any form, we can either work to implement policies that help a Greek system that truly adds to campus life at KU or we can get out the axe and do even more damage than has already been done.
Marc A. Heinze Marcellus, N.Y. senior
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