Frat Calls for More Women
Senior "Brother" Asks More Women to Rush Hall
Genna Neilson
Issue date: 1/31/06 Section: Opinions
Fraternities are commonly viewed as exclusive, misogynistic institutions, and I have no doubt that people also view St. Anthony's Hall as such. But I for one, as a female member of this organization, must object vehemently. As a woman in a "brotherhood" I feel respected, honored, and valued.
My intention in writing this piece is not to praise the Hall. Rather, I am concerned for its future as a coed institution on Trinity's campus. Over the past two years only three other women have been admitted as members, and this fall semester we had only one female pledge. Coming from a pledge class whose women outnumbered the men five to four, I am personally alarmed by this drastic drop in female brothers, particularly when such a drop is directly correlated to the low number of women coming out to rush.
It has been an increasingly worrying topic of conversation within our fraternity, as maintaining a coed environment is essential to the nature of our organization. So why is there a lack of interest from the female population at Trinity to rush the Hall? In part, I suspect that this is attributed to a rumor milling around campus that the Hall was not admitting females and was purposefully keeping the numbers abominably low. Now, I have heard a lot of rumors about the Hall and tend to shake them off. This rumor, however, could not be left unaddressed. It is an insult to my role in this organization and potentially harmful to the future of St. Anthony's Hall at Trinity when rumors such as these perpetuate a stereotype of misogyny. I don't know how this story was started, but it needs to be dispelled.
I did not step foot in the building until the end of my freshman year, and for most of my first year at Trinity, I believed the rumors and stereotypes surrounding the Hall. I was afraid of the Hall afraid of the people there, thinking them all to be Polo-clad, Nantucket-summering, prep school brats. When a friend forced me to attend rush the next fall (and I do mean forced), I realized how wrong I was. I quickly felt comfortable talking to most of the brothers about anything; music, sports, and important issues having to do with school, family and friends.
My intention in writing this piece is not to praise the Hall. Rather, I am concerned for its future as a coed institution on Trinity's campus. Over the past two years only three other women have been admitted as members, and this fall semester we had only one female pledge. Coming from a pledge class whose women outnumbered the men five to four, I am personally alarmed by this drastic drop in female brothers, particularly when such a drop is directly correlated to the low number of women coming out to rush.
It has been an increasingly worrying topic of conversation within our fraternity, as maintaining a coed environment is essential to the nature of our organization. So why is there a lack of interest from the female population at Trinity to rush the Hall? In part, I suspect that this is attributed to a rumor milling around campus that the Hall was not admitting females and was purposefully keeping the numbers abominably low. Now, I have heard a lot of rumors about the Hall and tend to shake them off. This rumor, however, could not be left unaddressed. It is an insult to my role in this organization and potentially harmful to the future of St. Anthony's Hall at Trinity when rumors such as these perpetuate a stereotype of misogyny. I don't know how this story was started, but it needs to be dispelled.
I did not step foot in the building until the end of my freshman year, and for most of my first year at Trinity, I believed the rumors and stereotypes surrounding the Hall. I was afraid of the Hall afraid of the people there, thinking them all to be Polo-clad, Nantucket-summering, prep school brats. When a friend forced me to attend rush the next fall (and I do mean forced), I realized how wrong I was. I quickly felt comfortable talking to most of the brothers about anything; music, sports, and important issues having to do with school, family and friends.
