“College is about more than just academics. It is about finding who you are and where you belong,” said Lilly Neff, a junior at WPI. There are numerous clubs and organizations set up for just this purpose. Allowing students to find where they fit it, what their passions are, and how to pursue them. These organizations give students the opportunity to grow and prosper in environments that will build them up. One very common university involvement is Greek Life and other single-sex organizations.
Recently, however, Harvard has created a new policy that limits student ability to hold leadership positions if they participate in single-sex organizations. I made three attempts to contact Harvard with no success. What I do know is the information that has been made public. “Harvard has now implemented a policy that is discriminatory towards any student that chooses to be apart of a single-sex organization. Punishments and sanctions against these students include disqualification for scholarships, honors, and student government offices.” Students are no longer able to hold leadership positions on campus in athletics, student government, and other activities if they are also affiliated with a single-sex organization. This is despite the fact that these single-sex organizations are not school affiliated. Many students, on social media, claim that this is infringing on student rights provided in the Constitution.
Since the installment of this new policy, Greek Life chapters nationwide have had a very strong response. This is especially prevalent in social media. “One day I was looking at my friends posts and there were just so many things with #standuptoharvard,” said Neff. Nearly every fraternity and sorority made a statement about how Greek Life betters the lives of individuals and provides a home on campus to so many students. It provides opportunities in leadership, philanthropy, community service, and social gatherings that help students find their voice.
“Money talks so take it somewhere else?” said one student in reply to a post with #standuptoharvard. Students want to take action and have their voices heard, even if it means drastic measures. This is an issue that will not be left alone. The posts are continuing to come in. “The empowering, strong women I had in my corner throughout anything meant everything,” said Ashton Ragsdale of Delta Zeta at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Regardless of people’s affiliation with Harvard, or the presence of a specific chapter on Harvard’s campus, there is support from individuals and organizations with single-sex oriented values. “While Phi Sigma Sigma doesn’t have a chapter at Harvard, we believe it’s time to stand up to Harvard! Today, Phi Sig stands in support of the group of sororities, fraternities, and students who filed lawsuits today (December 3, 2018) challenging Harvard,” read one post from Phi Sigma Sigma’s national Instagram. (@phisigmasigma).
There have been over 1100 posts on Instagram alone with the hashtag “standuptoharvard.” The support is evident from individuals across the nation in Greek affiliation as well as Greek national chapters such as Alpha Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma, and many others. These few examples of Greek organizations are all present at WPI as well as many other schools across the country. Several WPI students have joined the movement as well by actively participating in social media. There have been at least a couple dozen Instagram story posts alone from students I follow.
In addition to the overwhelming presence on instagram, the movement has gained support on other platforms such as facebook and twitter. Most recently, “a group of all men at Harvard were selected for Marshall scholarships … but if any of them joined an all-men’s group off-campus, Harvard would have denied them the opportunity,” @StandUp2Harvard noted on twitter. They point out the irony of the situation and the discrimination that they do not agree with. The twitter account continue to say things such as “mandated conformity cannot be in the service or spirit of diversity. Extending such a restrictive and regimented approach to student social life stifles student creativity and smothers students’ rights.”
It should be noted that despite the overwhelming rebellion against this recent policy implementation, Harvard should be granted the opportunity to respond or provide a statement. I regretfully was unable to attain such an opinion, but hope to see where this movement goes or hear a solid justification for the original installment.
If you wish to learn more about the movement against Harvard, visit standuptoharvard.org or #standuptoharvard.
