96 tears

When a fraternity makes news headlines for all the wrong reasons, we tend to stop & stare, marveling at how badly they loused up. But when 6 fraternities make news headlines like so, oh man, we stop in our tracks wondering why they could tarnish their reputations as the leading Greek organizations on campus.

That's exactly what went down @ San Diego State just the other day; one fraternity was the star of the show but five others played a pivotal role in the front-page section as well. They didn't get nailed for a big block party with lots of alcohol & a bunch of unruly students finding stuff to break. It wasn't for hazing or for grades. Serious, it was for something far worse, something which makes me shudder every time I think about it: a huge drug ring.

My land: at a university where Greek life is kind of a big deal, this latest news of Greeks gone bad really takes the cake. I mean, this is a bit much for me to stomach: in organizations where we're promoting integrity, high moral standards (as well as values), there are those select few trying to challenge convention & the very ideals their respective chapters' founders brought to the table, & they're basically saying, "Well, we're in a frat & can do what we want, even if it's not legal."

Cases in point: those SDSU Theta Chis who openly dealt drugs with no qualms (& one of them even going wholesale in the text message dep't. informing customers on special prices for cocaine). Not just Theta Chi, but one needs to include the other fraternities who were part of the ring, & the members who stood by allowing such illegal activity to take place. Is this to say that they were the baddest of the bad in the Greek community? Among those 96 duders who got arrested, one was about to get a degree in criminal justice & another was going to get a master's in Homeland Security. Digressions aside, those fraternities who smelled a rat (that is to say, sensed that something was up with some of their members selling drugs) but chose to turn their backs & let them keep doing their thing just made the worst transgression of all: compromising their integrity, & with it their existence as premier Greek houses @ San Diego State.

I thought we'd have learned from the mistakes other folks in the Greek system made in the past. But this latest incident back in San Diego tells us that we still have a lot to learn: it's not this rote maxim that "crime does not pay," but what happens when bad things happen to some of the best & brightest Greeks in the bunch.

At the same time, we've found out what happens when the best & brightest Greeks in the bunch, even though they know their fellow brothers are up to no good or into illegal activities like selling drugs, look the other way & don't take action where it's sorely due: a few fraternities suspended, 8 dozen duders arrested.