Show Greeks some respect

Joshephine Miller

Since Oct. 24 a former member of a Greek letter organization at UVM has been keeping a blog called “The Secret Life of a Sorority Drop Out.”

The author, Aliza Lederer-Plaskett, uses the blog to broadcast her frustrations and petty complaints about the institution of Greek Life to the entire world while pretending to try to keep her identity secret.

Her posts have been filled with divisive allegations about “frat boys try to lure innocent…freshmen [sic] women into their houses and up to the copula with promises of beer and vodka.”

She tells women that if they “need an organization to push…you to be the best person you can be, regardless of who is setting the standards…[you are] incapable of setting a high bar for yourself,” and offers advice to potential new members to “check your brain at the house door.”

Needless to say, the blog has made a lot of people really angry. Last week SGA was presented with a motion to impeach Lederer-Plaskett from her position as a Student Senator.

The motivation behind the impeachment motion was the belief that she betrayed the Preamble of SGA in taking actions that did not promote the welfare of the student body.

There is also a concern that Lederer-Plaskett was making statements that “marginalized members of the student body by making opinionated statements against a general group of students.”

She has a right to express her opinion that “the greek [sic] system is an exclusive system; consequently, it is a privileged and abusive system,” but she crosses the line when she accuses fraternity men of taking advantage of women sexually.

That is something that no fraternity man takes lightly and it is not something she should be comfortable just tossing around on the Internet. Perhaps if she has any actual information, she ought to notify the authorities rather than create nasty rumors just for kicks.

I take personal offense at the statements she makes about sorority women being stupid. The average GPA for Greek women on campus is a 3.22, according to a 2010 report from UVM Greek Life.

Women’s Greek letter organizations started as support systems for the first women to attend newly co-educational campuses.

They continue to provide academic support to their members, and women who are unable to maintain a high GPA find themselves put on academic probation or removed from their organization quite easily.

It is interesting to see somebody so dedicated to “rediscovering her intelligence and her independence” so quick to adopt common and lowly prejudices.

I also question her motives. I don’t think that her blog is motivated solely by a desire to spread the traumatic stories of her own sorority membership.

I think she wants attention, controversy and the ego boost that she receives from “That awkward moment when you gain 32 followers in 2 hours because Greek Life discovers your blog.”

I hope she can continue to express her opinions, I really do, but I’d also like to see her afford some amount of respect to her colleagues at UVM.