The fact that Jane Doe’s assault at Cornell occurred at a fraternity house is, unfortunately, not a surprise: It is a crucial fact of the case. Greek life is associated with higher rates of sexual assault on college campuses. Studies have shown fraternity members are three times as likely to commit sexual assault as other male students. Sorority women are 74 percent more likely to be sexually assaulted than other college women. For all these reasons and more, as undergraduates at American University, we led a movement to abolish fraternities and sororities.
Our fight for change didn’t work. Our story shows how challenging it is.
In 2020, the four of us started our college experience from our childhood bedrooms, because of the pandemic. Amid this exciting new chapter of our lives, we noticed several Instagram accounts popping up that featured A.U. students and alumni sharing their troubling experiences of racial discrimination, sexual abuse and brutal hazing, many of which occurred in and around social Greek life. A.U. has a reputation for having a progressive student body, and these testimonies troubled many of us in the freshman class. In many of the class of 2024’s GroupMe chats, discussions often revolved around how ridiculous it was that the things we read about were allowed to occur with no adequate response from the university. The four of us became friends because of our shared political perspectives, connections that we built digitally via Facebook posts and online group chats.
Many undergraduates we knew swore off Greek life and found it unacceptable that the university continued to allow its existence. Abby had initially considered joining a sorority: She had seen the cute Instagram photos of sisterhood and matching outfits. But after reading the testimonials of Greek life on A.U.’s campus, she quickly decided against it. All of us felt viscerally that if one member of our campus could be harmed and devalued, then the same thing could happen to any of us.
When we finally arrived on campus in 2021, we saw fraternities with recruitment tables on the quad. We watched some of the same classmates who had discussed the violence of fraternities on GroupMe flock to them, in search of some semblance of in-person community. We doubt that the chess club would ever be allowed to recruit on campus if statistically its members were three times as likely to commit sexual assault as the general student body. Why did this double standard exist for fraternities?
Abby and Olivia were roommates, and they printed fliers that read: “Do you like racism? Do you enjoy misogyny? Well, then joining Greek life is for you!” But posting them freely wasn’t allowed. So we attempted to form a club called “Abolish Greek Life at A.U.” With club status, we would be allowed to table on the quad, put up fliers, host events, and receive funding. We felt that we were addressing a just cause that our fellow students and our liberal university would welcome with open arms.
Our application to become a club was denied. We would be permitted to exist as a formal club only if we changed our mission from abolishing Greek life to merely reforming it. We refused.
Turning to social media, we posted statistics and student testimonials on Instagram. We saw lots of comments in support of our posts, which ranged from infographics on how Greek life protects abusers to a statement of support in response to comments made on social media about an alleged sexual assault by a member of a fraternity. However, we also saw plenty of hate — other students would often mock us, or post hate comments. Others accused us of being performative or exaggerating what was a big state school issue, not an issue at A.U.
But we had our allies. We organized with members of the student government, and in the spring of 2022, we got two referendum questions on the campuswide ballot. To achieve this, we attended lengthy student government meetings that sometimes took up our entire Saturdays. We recall being criticized by members of the student government, who didn’t know we were within earshot. We persuaded other A.U. clubs to co-sign our fliers about the referendum so that we could post them throughout campus. A large piece of our campaign was talking to our fellow students and trying to get them to join our cause. Many of them told us that they were uncomfortable with the behavior of Greek life organizations but that they were desperate for social infrastructure. Though abolishing fraternities and sororities was our main goal, we realized the importance of creating alternative forms of community for A.U. students.
When the results were tallied, 46 percent of voting students said they did not support the presence of Greek life on campus, compared with 41 percent who said they did. Even more clearly, 73 percent of students said they desired alternatives to Greek life that would help build community on A.U.’s campus.
Amid the aftermath of the referendums, the director of A.U.’s Center for Student Involvement told the campus newspaper that the university “would not recognize any club whose goal was to abolish another student involvement opportunity on campus.” Ultimately, despite all our efforts, nothing happened.
Greek life throughout the country has been given opportunities to reform, yet horrific incidents happen time and time again. Why don’t more universities consider abolishing frats? We believe part of it is money. Nationwide, university alumni who were members of Greek life are far likelier than their non-Greek counterparts to donate to their institution — with one survey showing 54 percent of those who went Greek donating to their alma mater, as opposed to the 10 percent of nonaffiliated alumni. This suggests to us that universities have a financial incentive to ignore the sexual abuse, hazing and discrimination that Greek life perpetuates.
We recognize the need for social networks and support systems on college campuses. But there are ample examples of alternative communities on campuses across the country. Many colleges and universities — including Rice, Notre Dame, Colby, Alfred, Amherst — have either abolished their Greek systems, or never let them take root at all. Some people might find us naïve, but we still believe just as firmly that abolition, not reform, is the only answer. These other schools serve as models: We don’t need to imagine something new to imagine something better.
Parthav Easwar works in environmental policy in Washington. Bella Paracca is a museum professional and a writer based in Pittsburgh. Abby Sharkis is a political researcher based in Washington. Olivia O’Connor is a writer and a teacher based in Massachusetts.
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