The outrage stemming from the revelation that Phi Psi bid letters have, for several years now, featured a collage of nude women is more than justified. We believe that Phi Psi’s bid letters are completely indefensible. Clearly, something needs to be done within Phi Psi to address issues of misogyny and marginalization.
We do not, however, endorse the petition to end SAC funding to Phi Psi until 10 percent of their members are women. Though we feel that Phi Psi should be held accountable, removing this funding source from them will do nothing to address the issue the bids brought to light. SAC funding comes with the condition that parties financed with such funds must be public, and so removing such funding from Phi Psi would only result in fewer public events. This would not punish members of Phi Psi, who would remain free to have private events, but rather the non-Phi Psi members who frequent and enjoy their public ones.
SAC funding encourages organizations to be open to the entire community. This should be encouraged, not hindered. Though Phi Psi should be held accountable, they should not lose their SAC funding. Especially because it is unlikely that female-identifying students will now want to join the fraternities, this punishment will not only perpetually limit access for the student body to their spaces, but the issue presented will not have been addressed.
We appreciate that Phi Psi has today apologized for their actions, and that they seem intent on working to reduce the presence of sexism within their organization. These are important first steps, and we are glad that Phi Psi has been active in pursuing these reforms.
As a campus community, we should encourage Phi Psi to reform their organizational policies. As we continue our discussions about diversity and inclusion, this incident should be remembered, and we should work to prevent future incidents of this sort.
We must encourage diversity and inclusion within student organizations. Sexism and misogyny should not fester within student groups. As this incident shows, what is said and done in private is as important as what is said publicly, so we must encourage an atmosphere of inclusion within all student groups, including the fraternities.
While a great deal of attention has been paid to changing academic curriculum to encourage diversity and inclusion, this incident highlights the importance of reforming our social environment to encourage and demand inclusivity.
Though we hope that this incident will be enough to have a great impact on the prevalence of sexism on campus, it will likely not. The college must continue and redouble its efforts to actively reduce sexism, in public and in private. To make our campus safe and welcoming for everyone, we must ensure that all student groups do not foster disrespect.
