BY GENEVRA PITTMAN

In print | Published February 21, 2008

Last night, Delta Upsilon held the first in a series of planned discussions on the role men’s groups and brotherhoods on campus can play in addressing issues of sexual violence.

The discussion, attended by a mix of DU brothers and other students, was intended as a way to brainstorm possible ways to get other male groups — and ultimately the campus as a whole — to change its view of sexual assault.

“To create a safe space you have to have personal responsibility and responsibility for your brothers, but you also have to let people know you’re creating a safe space,” Alex Ginsberg ‘08, DU president and the moderator of the discussion, said. "We decided to take a public approach, and it was recommended … that we might bring in other male groups into the discussion because it’s hard to change a whole culture by yourself."

Participants in the discussion brought up the idea of incorporating male sports teams into the conversations on sexual violence, as well as other brotherhoods on campus like Phi Psi and Achieving Black and Latino Leaders of Excellence. In addition, members of the all-male a capella group Sixteen Feet were in attendance to express interest in talking about how they might play a role in changing the way the campus talks about these issues.

“I know personally Phi Psi has been part of this conversation,” Ginsberg said. “We are working together with them and the deans to create an inter-fraternal pact. They are concerned, as we are, with this issue.”

While participants at the discussion were excited about a wide range of male groups on campus getting involved with combating sexual violence, the specific nuances of each group were recognized as necessitating each of them to deal with these issues differently. Still, there was the prospect of some groups, such as DU and Sixteen Feet, joining together to share their thoughts about sexual violence on campus.

“The idea of banding together with brotherhoods is really great,” said Urooj Khan ‘10, a participant in the discussion and an organizer of the Clothesline Project. She added that the concept of men taking the lead in fighting sexual violence was a powerful one. “One of the things that we really tried hard to do with the Clothesline Project was to try to get men to take the initiative,” she said. "I think it’s really encouraging that DU and other brotherhoods on campus are taking this initiative."

Participants in the discussion brought up the power of language in all-male groups, and how sexist and sex-related jokes can perpetuate sexual violence, thus creating a moral obligation for brotherhoods to find a way to call each other out on these comments and critically assess the jokes that go on behind closed doors and in public.

The issue of masculinity, and how to redefine it so as not to not include or accept these comments and sexist attitudes, was addressed, as well as the role that alcohol plays in escalating all kinds of violence in male groups and in potentially blurring the lines in hookup situations to make the potential of unwanted sexual contact more likely.

Though a wide range of ideas were brought up during the discussion, Ginsberg stressed that the meeting was just a start to the kind of conversations he hopes will happen in the future and the ultimate changes that will occur.

“It takes a while to get concrete steps as to what it is you can actually do,” Ginsberg said. “The idea was to begin a dialogue.”

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