Students condemn sexist fraternity post
After a member’s post on a private Theta Xi fraternity page was posted on Twitter, the fraternity apologized
December 21, 2017
Students took to Twitter to condemn the actions of unknown members of the Omega chapter of the WSU fraternity Theta Xi, who’s screen-grabbed post “Hella Hoes date dash aka the buffet date dash” made derogatory comments about women on Tuesday night.
The original tweet calling out the fraternity was posted by Jessie Brown, a sophomore interior design major. After receiving the screenshot from a friend who asked her to come to the syllabus week date dash, Brown said she found the post inappropriate and offensive and tweeted the photo, asking for peoples’ thoughts. Replying to her original post, she pointed out the post asked members to take Viagra, referred to women using sexist language and made derogatory comments about the weight of members of two specific sororities, Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Delta Pi.
Brown said since she posted the tweet, she’s heard from a lot of women that they are no longer planning on going to the date dash, saying they would rather go to an actual buffet than attend the event.
“It was really just rude,” she said. “You shouldn’t affiliate with men who are talking to you in a degrading manner. As a woman, I don’t think you should let someone disrespect you by calling you bad names, like a hoe or something.”
She said she found the tweet particularly upsetting as a former member of Alpha Delta Pi and wanted to warn women in the Greek community about comments being made about them.
Since Tuesday, the fraternity has apologized, calling the post, “an attempted joke in very poor taste” made by an individual member. In the tweeted apology, the fraternity also wrote they were pursuing disciplinary actions toward the member and that they would hold two additional philanthropy events for women’s charities.
The Interfraternity Council also condemned the post, and IFC Communication Director Mitchel Weholt said they were pursuing all avenues available to them to hold Theta Xi accountable, including reaching out-of-chapter leadership, notifying WSU Office of Student Conduct, Theta Xi Headquarters and the Greek Standards Board about the incident. In a tweet, the organization also encouraged students to report any issues or behavior concerns to IFC.
Outside of the Greek system, other figures around campus condemned the post, including ASWSU President Jordan Frost and GPSA President Shane Reynolds. In a series of tweets Frost condemned the post and asked for the fraternity to investigate the member and hold trainings on their values, offered encouragement to the two sororities mentioned in the post and asked higher level organizations to take action on the matter. He also thanked Brown for bringing attention to the issue.
“People always ask me ‘how can i help? How can i make a difference?’ ” Frost wrote, “Calling out things like this is a great start! Sometimes it’s as simple as a tweet.”