On December 1st 2022, the Student Assembly passed Resolution 16, titled Condemning Greek Life, listing numerous claims, criticisms, and allegations about Greek Life at Cornell. In a response presented to the assembly on January 26th, 2023, President Martha Pollack thanked the assembly for their advocacy, despite recognizing factual inaccuracies within the resolution.
Passed in a contentious debate, Resolution 16 was written in response to a string of alleged druggings and assaults during the Fall Semester.
Following last semester’s emergency alerts regarding the incidents, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) enacted a ban on social activities, which Cornell later extended indefinitely. The incidents and the social suspension have provoked discussion within the Cornell community, including calls for the abolition of Greek Life and accusations of unfairness on the part of Cornell.
Resolution 16 made numerous assertions that were either untrue, unbased, or the subject of debate. Among them:
Whereas, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) is primarily governed by students in fraternities, creating an inherent conflict of interest when disciplining fraternities and individual members. Further, students are not professionals equipped with the skills and knowledge to handle such serious issues such as sexual assault.
By claiming that fraternities are governed only by a self-appointed body, the Assembly is implying that there is no disciplinary structure in place for fraternities. However, as President Pollack pointed out in her letter to the Student Assembly, while governed by the IFC, fraternities are also subject to the Student Code of Conduct as administered by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS).
This is the same office that all students and student organizations are subject to, and fraternities have no unique exception. Furthermore, sexual assault cases are immediately referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX through Policy 6.4 and a separate judicial hearing process for such cases. Fraternities have just as much disciplinary oversight, if not more than, other campus organizations.
Regarding Greek-specific rules, there is also a separate judicial process administered by the Tri-Council which consists of the IFC, Pan Hellenic, and the Multicultural Greek Fraternity Council.
Resolution 16 also states:
Whereas, 11% of students have experienced nonconsensual sexual contact and 44% of students have experienced any sexual or gender-based harassment since entering Cornell. Whereas, 21% of undergraduate women and 25.7% of non-binary students have experienced nonconsensual sexual contact since entering Cornell.
It seems the numbers referenced by the Assembly came from a survey conducted by Cornell in Spring 2021. The Cornell Survey of Sexual Assault and Related Misconduct was an online questionaire that targeted a random, stratified sample of 6,000 students at the Ithaca, Cornell Tech, and Weill Cornell campuses. Only 38 percent of those asked participated. Additionally, this survey was not limited to fraternity-related incidents, but rather covered the whole Cornell community.
While the percentages of students who self-reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact or sexual harassment are horrifying, it is important to note that these are all self-reported and therefore alleged incidents.
That is, some or many of these claims have never been verified by any official body or proceedings. For the Student Assembly to claim as a fact that these numbers represent the actual number of students who have experienced unwanted sexual contact or sexual harassment is, at best, lacking important context.
Claiming that survey numbers represent factual data on the prevalence of sexual assault is analogous to claiming that the percentage of people who allege that they have been robbed is the same as the actual percentage of people proven to have been robbed.
Of course, we should take victims at face value and address their allegations with utmost urgency and seriousness, but an allegation can not be assumed to be proven fact, and Resolution 16 failed to address this distinction.
Resolution 16 also asserts:
Whereas, fraternities are misogynistic, racist, and transphobic institutions that perpetuate sexual assault and harassment.
This is an appalling claim, almost on the level of Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment during the 2016 presidential election. It’s more than a bit surprising to hear from the Student Assembly, considering nearly a third of Cornellians are involved with Greek Life.
That an elected body would label an institution that such a large proportion of its constituents participate in–or are closely involved with–as “misogynistic, racist, and transphobic” is shocking. Then again, when you consider the absolutely abysmal turnout in recent SA elections, it’s no wonder student representatives feel entitled to malign their constituents.
Resolution 16 then lists a series of specific incidents, including:
Whereas, a President of Psi Upsilon, Wolfgang Ballinger, was charged with first-degree attempted rape, first-degree criminal sex act with a helpless victim, and sexual misconduct after raping a girl at his fraternity residence in 2016.
Whereas, brothers of Psi Upsilon assaulted a Black student, repeatedly calling him the N-word and other expletives in 2017.
Whereas, multiple chapters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon had a chant “There will never be an n*** in SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me.”
Whereas, brothers of Zeta Beta Tau conducted a “pig roast” in 2018, a game where brothers had sex with women for points, with the winner having sex with the heaviest woman;
At Resolution 16’s conclusion, the Student Assembly resolved that “the Cornell Student Assembly strongly condemns Greek life and the lack of consequences imposed on fraternities.”
However, for every specific instance of fraternity misbehavior that the resolution mentions, fraternities–and their members–did face consequences. Wolfgang Ballinger was expelled from Cornell and Psi Upsilon was found to have played no role in his actions. Psi Upsilon months later was suspended for other reasons.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Oklahoma University Chapter (which committed the offense) was expelled for its racist song, along with several students. For the “pig roast” incident, Cornell put Zeta Beta Tau on a two-year probation and required the chapter to undergo a national review, despite considerable doubts surfacing about the veracity of the allegations and Cornell issuing a formal retraction.
Resolution 16 also alleges that certain fraternities have nicknames referring to rape culture, including “Sexual Assault Expected,” “Spike,” and “Thumpty.” The Cornell Review was able to verify that “Sexual Assault Expected” and “Spike” are well known nicknames.
However, the Review was unable to verify the Student Assembly’s claim surrounding the nickname “Thumpty.” While the origin of the name is unclear, it is a common nickname for both the fraternity and its members. In 2015, the Cornell Interfraternity Council posted a highlight of Theta Delta Chi on its Facebook page, where it referred to the fraternity as “Thumpty.”
The Iowa State Daily also reported:
Members of Theta Delta Chi are also known as Thumpers. They adopted this name from alumnus Frank Thomas, who animated Thumper in the Disney film Bambi. They at one point had an original, hand-drawn Thumper from Thomas.
Lastly, the resolution stated:
Be it finally resolved, that Cornell needs to do better in supporting survivors and fighting the persistent rape culture on campus.
It goes without even saying that we wholeheartedly denounce the alleged crimes described in Cornell’s emergency alerts. And we hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly and publicly, using the fullest extent of the law. Furthermore, there is an important discussion to be had about fraternities, their role in these kinds of incidents, and how to address the problem of assault.
However, Student Assembly Resolution 16 automatically implicates all fraternities and their members, even though an investigation of last semester’s incidents has not yet concluded. It discards the presumption of innocence, employs guilt by association, and misrepresents multiple facts. The Student Assembly owes its constituents a fuller, in-depth analysis, not broad misrepresentations and aspersions.
The recording of the meeting is available here. The draft minutes can be accessed here.
