This is seriously a new low…:
http://news.yahoo.com/univ-florida-frat-accused-insulting-wounded-war-vets-111548137.html
It is more disappointing considering the victims here are wounded war veterans who were at a retreat meant to honor their sacrifices and service.
I think ZBT national is taking this very seriously.
Though I was not in a frat, I have long reserved judgement on Greeks as a group because my wife had a positive experience in her sorority which helped with leadership positions later in life. But these “vomit off the balconies” stories (and far worse) are coming so fast and furiously the last few years that I think some scrutiny is needed. Maybe we will be reaching a moment when the Greek system will have to make a very convincing case for its continued existence.
My son is a ZBT. He proactively posted this story on his Facebook page and said - Not despite being a ZBT, but because I am a ZBT I want the monsters who did this punished to the full extent of the law. They are no brothers of mine.
People outside the Greek system deliberately refuse to understand that different chapters of the same frat have little in common with one another and are not responsible for one another.
I think and hope that the days are numbered for Frats. There are so many incidents of bigoted, obnoxious, inexcusable behavior at frats across the nation that I question why they still are allowed to exist on college campuses. What purpose do they REALLY serve these days, in an educational environment with student populations at most campuses so different from 50+ years ago, and when so many colleges now have widely diverse multi-ethnic populations, besides allow their members to exclude others, who are mostly non-white, from their exclusive little [ read discriminatory] drinking clubs?
I don’t really even see this as a “frat” story. These individuals are just absolutely despicable people. Period.
The response from ZBT national was classy - much more so than the denial from the Emory admin. Swift action, continued investigation, and not dodging. There is a letter out there from the Uof Floriday chapter that is also a no-excuses apology and also promises to financially support the veterans group in the future. No organization is immune to stupidity but the way they respond matters.
And young immature people often get the courage to act badly when surrounded by their “pack”.
Individually these kids wouldn’t dare do the same things. These days Frats are too often a “cover” for bad behavior.
Eliminate them and much of the bad behavior among male college students would go away.
It’s a frat story because they were wearing ZBT shirts & hats while misbehaving in public.
If they were wearing PETA or NRA shirts & hats while misbehaving in public, then it would be a PETA or NRA story.
^^^^^
Oh ok I missed that part of the story.
“and when so many colleges now have widely diverse multi-ethnic populations, besides allow their members to exclude others, who are mostly non-white, from their exclusive little [ read discriminatory] drinking clubs?”
What an odd comment. Both consolation and I have commented that our sons’ fraternities have different ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, etc.
IMHO, these kids need to be potty trained. This includes their potty mouths.
I am glad ZBT is investigating this and intends to pursue this with the students.
Maybe some kindergarten skills need to be added to the college admissions requirements.
These kids have bigger issues than what the national organization may do…
When I first heard of this on Monday, I knew UF would likely suspend or expel Zeta Beta Tau members over this harassment. At this point, the UF ZBT members are cooperating as much as possible to avoid expulsion.
Simply business as usual. To be followed by the usual denials, the usual litany of excuses, the usual accusation of being victims of generalizations, and the usual burial.
Until next week or the next day.
That is disgusting. I hope the involved members are expelled.
I hope that it is thoroughly investigated so that what actually happened is known. I’m tired of people getting wildly outraged about something before the full truth is known.
Yes, the behavior described was disgusting. If drunken idiots urinated off the balcony on those below, no matter who they were, it is disgusting. The same thing for vomiting. Did many do this, or only one or two or three? Did the other members of the fraternity try to restrain them and/or prevent them from doing it? Did they actively target the veterans, or were they just happy to do this to whoever was there? And so on.
Screaming headlines proclaiming that they “spat on veterans” makes it sound like they deliberately walked up to veterans and spat on them because they were veterans. Is that what happened? As more info is released, it doesn’t sound like it.
The national and university are taking it seriously and investigating. Personally, I’d rather wait to find out what they discover before I start baying for someone’s blood.
And @menloparkmom, my S’s fraternity was at least 50% people of color. Go spew your stereotypes on someone else’s kid.
“What an odd comment. Both consolation and I have commented that our sons’ fraternities have different ethnicity, religions, sexual orientations, etc.”
Two frats out of how many?
There has been a long term problem within many individual fraternities that national organizations and colleges have chosen to ignore and are finally being forced to acknowledge, because these days the spotlight of social media allows everyone to see these incidents.
Its about time…
“Simply business as usual. To be followed by the usual denials, the usual litany of excuses, the usual accusation of being victims of generalizations, and the usual burial.”
I couldn’t agree more. Hopefully the burial part will not continue…
I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, it’s disgraceful to target veterans. On the other hand, I’m not impressed with the defense that it wasn’t personal and they would have vomited on anyone.
But I do think it’s worth knowing whether there were two or three offenders and the others tried to restrain them, or whether many were participating, either actively or by laughing and egging on the worst offenders.
I hope the Univ of Florida can distinguish between harassment and First Amendment rights…
“Simply business as usual. To be followed by the usual denials, the usual litany of excuses, the usual accusation of being victims of generalizations, and the usual burial.”
What “denial” is going on here? None as far as I can see.