@adadfromtheburbs…I guarantee you that if somebody was dumb enough to film the events like those frat guys, then assaults, rapes, and serious felonies at Syracuse would definitely make the evening news! So glad I didn’t join a fraternity! Horrible Syracuse publicity!!
4th fraternity at Syracuse that’s been suspended during this academic year. Houston, we have a problem!
I’m not quite as horrified as others seem to be. Haven’t people seen, “Animal House?” This is what guys do when they’re 18,19,20-years old. They do ridiculous things because doing ridiculous things is funny. Everyone in the video was laughing because nobody was taking anything seriously. Nobody got hurt. Nobody came off to me as hard-core racists or sexists.
When I was in a fraternity as a freshman, we had a rival fraternity across the street. You should have seen all the politically incorrect stuff we directed at each other. Then someone would bust out the keg, and both frats would get together and party.
People these days go out of their way to find reasons to be offended.
It is things such as this (and many more things) that lead corporations to have sensitivity training for their employees.
@simba9 “Back in my day, no one got in trouble for being racist! Boys will be boys. No biggie. Oh and honey, while you’re at it, go make me a sandwich.”
Because we can’t be appalled by more than one thing at a time…
If it was a skit (I didn’t watch more than a few seconds of it), don’t they have a right to be idiots? So says that nutty professor spouting off about Barbra Bush. What’s good for one, is no good for the other? From the article, it seems they where equal opportunity offenders.
People are free to be idiots. Colleges/Universities, businesses, corporations, organizations, etc are also free to do with these “idiots” as they see fit as well as investigate possible crimes. What someone else does (I have no knowledge of the professor being talked about) has no bearing. Being an “equal opportunity” offender simply means they committed more wrongdoings.
As a Syracuse grad, I can tell you the suspended fraternities were gross even back in the 80s. I was not surprised by any of the suspensions … at all. The only difference was back in the olden days no one was documenting anything on a cell phone.
I do applaud the administration for doing SOMETHING.
@simba9 The fallacy in your reasoning is thinking that this sort of behavior is what all 18-20 year old guys do. No, it isn’t. Some do. Many don’t. By the same token is killing small animals for fun ok as a youngster because some kids naturally do it? Some things are just plain wrong. This is one of them.
I suspect everyone was laughing in the video because alcohol was also part of it all. One can laugh at anything when alcohol dulls the thinking capability.
FWIW, more young men are protesting against what happened than took part in it. That makes me feel like we’re starting to make a positive difference overall.
@Creekland, comparing what the frat members did to killing small animals is really a stretch. Nobody and nothing got hurt here. As mentioned, fraternities were doing the same thing decades ago, and I’m unaware of fraternities being breeding grounds for criminal or abnormal behavior among members later in life. The difference these days is that it’s trendy to be offended at everything.
Same old news. Just a group of white frat kids having some fun. Not surprised at all. Cel phone videos capture just a fraction of things that take place. And which idiot records this anyway unless the person wanted to expose such behavior?
I don’t condone this behavior. As a member of one of the targeted groups, I find it really frightening. But, they are now claiming it was meant as satire – basically this was not part of any real ceremony or ritual, but just a skit. Does that make a difference? Could it be that these kids are not terrible people, but just really really bad writers?
Don’t forget, Mel Brooks wrote “Springtime for Hitler.” It was hilarious, but it could have gone wrong. Seinfeld made a horribly racist episode about the Puerto Rican day parade. It was way over the line. He apologized and promised the episode would not air again. Prince Harry wore a Nazi uniform for Halloween. It was in terrible taste, but I don’t believe and I don’t think many others believe that he is a Nazi or a rabid anti-Semite.
I also wonder about the make up of that fraternity. Are there any people of color or Jewish members?
@gallentjill I heard that the skit was done because one of the pledges had expressed some conservative opinions. So if you believe this excuse then a bunch of liberal frat members decided to teach a conservative pledge a lesson by forcing him to recite these racist remarks. So the punishment for being a conservative is humiliation? I don’t buy this excuse but either way the frat bros are nasty people.
I obviously wasn’t part of that fraternity, but I’m Jewish and wasn’t offended because I knew not to take what they were saying seriously. I doubt what they were doing was a pre-rehearsed skit or any kind of punishment for a conservative pledge. It was probably just a few members who spent five minutes coming up with what they thought would be a funny way to haze the pledges. Not a whole lot of deep thought goes into these things.
People are acting like this was a KKK meeting, and it wasn’t.
This is actually the kind of talk that worries me about the state of the country, although it’s so over the top that I can’t tell whether it’s serious or not. It’s just a fraternity, not ISIS. Reminds me of Orwell’s books.
“Fear of vandalism or trouble”
“Fear of retribution from the students they oppress”
So that’s the answer now. Threats of violence to get your way is the answer to change. And then you celebrate those threats. And that my friend is why we have such a divide in this country. Threaten those who you disagree with.
By the way this may get them to remove stickers. But it doesn’t get people to change their views. It just deepens the divide!
My hope is that these boys learn and grow from this incident. It is an opportunity for self-reflection…for them and us. Each of us can benefit from examining our own reaction to the video. As other threads have touched on the topic of bias, I feel the reactions on this thread mirror our own experiences and values.
@bhs1978 I agree with you but choose to ignore the posters who seem to be trying to ‘stir the pot’…look at the number of posts they’ve made.
What’s the goal? A utopia where everyone has to think the same way, or else?
@simba9 - or maybe it’s trendy now to realize it’s not fun (for everyone) to bully others or make fun of them in a similar way that it’s not ok to assume “no” means “try harder” or “she really means yes.”
Humans can change their behavior when they realize what “used to be” is not just “harmless fun.” Of course, it might still be “fun” for you (or those participating), but there are others in this world who deserve consideration.
And it’s still true that NOT all young males (or females) naturally default to this type of fun. That’s a pure fallacy. It might be true in your circle of friends, but it’s certainly not true overall. Many, many college students aren’t at all interested in frats/sororities (esp with this kind of behavior) and still manage to have fun throughout their college years.
What’s the goal?
A world where “Everyone is considered equal in value” and “Love your neighbor” are the things we cherish over “What’s the problem? We’re just having fun [at your expense]!”