Should organizations that facilitate and normalize rape culture operate on Case Western's campus?
 
Do we, as a community, encourage social exclusion on the basis of race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation or gender presentation?
 
Is our collective imagination powerful enough to imagine a school without elitist, exclusionary organizations?
 
Greek Life has historically proven itself to be a system that upholds many cisheteropatriarchal tenets of hegemonic American culture: racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia.
 
This is not to say that every member of Greek Life should be held personally accountable for the racism of their institution; systemic issues can never be resolved by individual responsibility. We must accept that only radical change will undo the centuries of violence, classism, racism, and trans/homophobia inherent to Greek Letter Organizations (GLO’s).
 
Because Case Western’s administration and the office of Title IX has failed to protect our community from the rampant rape culture, misogyny, racism, homophobia and transphobia facilitated by Greek Letter Organizations, we as the students, patrons, and campus community of Case Western Reserve University demand the complete abolition of Greek Life at Case Western Reserve University.
 
The sheer number of sexual assault allegations that are surfacing on the @cwru.survivors Instagram account—28% of which have been Greek Life related as of July 8th—indicates not only the failure of Greek Life’s accountability system, but also a mass complicity that relies upon the public’s silent acceptance of the status quo. That is, acceptance of Greek Life’s social hierarchy that primarily serves to amplify the privilege of the economic and social elite.
 
Are we so unimaginative that we cannot imagine constructing philanthropical institutions not engendered by class antagonisms and racial exclusion? Are we so shortsighted to accept Greek Life despite its numerous and egregious shortcomings? We refuse to believe that.
 
The complete abolition of Greek Life is the foundational principle of this petition. “What comes after” this abolition is a matter of consideration for our collective imagination, not a discursive tactic to dodge accountability for the danger GLO’s pose to our campus community.
 
The system is not broken. Many years of Greek Life reform have proven that organizations founded upon the tenets of white supremacy and elitism cannot be reformed. We must commit to an agenda of radical change or else fall into an appeasement cycle that will only perpetuate this oppressive system.
 
The continued existence of Greek Letter Organizations relies upon exclusionary admittance practices, with absolute discretional authority in the hands of current brothers and sisters.
 
The continued existence of Greek Letter Organizations depends on in-group homogeneity. There are those who are ‘like us’ and those who are ‘not like us.’
 
Whether in relation to race, class, sexual orientation or gender identity, tokenist inclusion within these power structures serves only to immunize Greek Life from criticism as a system that upholds cisheteronormative ideals and stratifies historically marginalized communities into a heterogenous out-group.
 
We cannot speak about gender/sexual violence without speaking about racial inequity. We cannot acknowledge socioeconomic disparity without also engaging in productive and candid discussions of racial inequality. LGBTQ+ liberation does not exist without BIPOC liberation.
 
For those who belong to identity groups that fall outside the parameters of upper-class white social acceptability, their experiences in Greek Life are often riddled with microaggressions for which they are blamed. Their discomfort is minimized, and they are gaslit into believing they are ‘too sensitive.’
 
We implore anyone unfamiliar with the Instagram profiles @black.at.cwru, @lgbtqatcwru, and @cwru.survivors to familiarize yourself with these student accounts of racism, homophobia, and transphobia on the CWRU campus. Many of these firsthand experiences highlight the oppressive influence and subsequent elevated social status that members of Greek Letter Organizations have on our campus.
 
These accounts emphasize the intersecting ways that Greek Letter Organizations pose a threat to all members of our community, and to demonstrate the detrimental effects of allowing GLO’s to operate on our campus. Marginalized communities will continue to be underrepresented and oppressed by these organizations should they continue to exist at CWRU.
 
Commitments to action characteristic of GLO’s during times of social unrest, especially resulting from public outrage at the systemic injustices in Greek Life, are nothing more than short-lived reactions intended to appease mass outrage until we, as a microcosm of mainstream society, lapse back into silent acceptance of the status quo.
 
This petition serves as a reminder that we will not return to these oppressive norms. It is time we recognize our identities as political; we must question the hegemonic framework that serves to divide us.
 
It is time we understand Greek Life not as a “broken” system that needs repair but as one functioning exactly as it was designed. It is an elitist apparatus of white supremacy that needs to be abolished. We must turn over a new leaf as a community.
 
We must contextualize this struggle as one that does not exist inside of an educational vacuum; the injustices we are witnessing are derivative of the economic and social injustice present beyond the gentrified walls of our educational institution. It is time we actively participate in the global movement for equity, equality, and liberation.
 
Our demands:
 
-We demand that the Interfraternity Congress, and the Panhellenic Council permanently ban GLO recruitment/rushing. We allot three (3) years for all of Greek Life to cease to exist on our campus. At the end of three (3) years, all Greek Letter houses will be converted into gender inclusive housing and/or inexpensive housing for low-income students.
 
-We demand that CWRU’s chapter of Zeta Psi be disbanded immediately, and that their house be  converted into gender inclusive housing and/or inexpensive housing for low-income students.
 
-We demand that CWRU’s chapter of Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) be disbanded immediately, and that their house be converted into gender inclusive housing and/or inexpensive housing for low-income students.
 
-We demand that CWRU’s chapter of Delta Sigma Phi (DSP) be disbanded immediately.

-We demand that CWRU’s chapter of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) be disbanded immediately, and that their house be converted into gender inclusive housing and/or inexpensive housing for low-income students.
 
The aforementioned fraternities (Zeta Psi, ZBT, DSP, Fiji) have proven themselves to be antithetical to peace and justice on our campus. We do not feel safe returning to campus while these chapters are operating.

***We then demand that members of these disbanded organizations be given unaffiliated University housing at a reduced rate to account for the financial burden of disbanding and the effects it may have on students who rely on Greek Life's housing agreements. Members of these organizations should not have to suffer financially for the disbanding of their organizations. It is the responsibility of administration to incentivize these organizations' withdrawal from our campus.

It is time we commit to dismantling the hierarchal microsociety of CWRU Greek Life to create an equitable environment for ALL students, not just those who “fit.”