Members of the Greek community said at a panel Tuesday that several factors led to the cancellation of some Greek Week events.
At a newly-added event for Ohio University’s Greek Week on Tuesday, fraternity and sorority members held a panel discussion to address questions and concerns following the cancellation of several Greek Week events.
Despite Greek leadership attributing the cancellation to the painting of the phrase “Build the Wall” on OU’s graffiti wall by Greek community members, several students at Tuesday’s event, called “The Elephant in the Room,” said the issue extends beyond the graffiti.
The phrase refers to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall at the United States-Mexico border to discourage illegal immigration.
Over the past week, the Trump-related message and the subsequent amendment to Greek Week events has become a contentious issue on campus. Critics have aired concerns about free speech, with the OU College Republicans painting the wall Wednesday with a “trigger warning” message in support of the First Amendment.
“The wall is not the center of this dilemma — it is just the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Kaitlin Wilson, a member of OU’s chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha said Tuesday during the panel held in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
A letter sent to fraternities and sororities Sunday said the weeklong event had become “antithetical” to what sororities and fraternities should represent instead of promoting a focus on unity, service and philanthropy. It was signed by the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Women’s Panhellenic Association.
“In recent years, the typical programming offered during Greek Week has not promoted inclusion among all members of our Sorority and Fraternity community,” the letter stated.
However, panelists elaborated Tuesday on details in the letter and said in making their decision, the councils looked at which events were unnecessary and did not reflect the intended spirit of Greek Week.
They also referenced comments made in a chat on GroupMe, a group messaging application, that included members of the Greek community. The content of the alleged GroupMe conversation was not specified during the discussion.
Panelists also said the issue of inclusion had been raised at previous delegate meetings this semester prior to the graffiti wall incident.
“I don’t want to be on a campus where people are paying $20,000 a year to feel disrespected by their Greek community,” Afua Yeboah, who spoke on the panel but did not share her affiliation, said during the discussion.
Panelists said the decisions were made by the four Greek councils and not by the university’s administration.
Alexandra Corsi, president of OU’s chapter of Delta Gamma, also said the event changes were about inclusion and not about the graffiti message itself.
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When it comes to the Greek Week changes, Corsi said, “I think a lot of people are missing the point.”
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