On Monday, March 31, an opinion piece was published in the Iowa State Daily concerning the Iowa State greek community. Although much of the focus was on the changes from Greek Getaway to the upcoming Greek Visit Day, this editorial article also called out the community to address what the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board classifies as the “reinforcing [of] gender stereotypes.”

This article has received a lot of feedback from many of Iowa State’s greek students; however, the real issues surrounding the article are the misleading facts that the Editorial Board provided students. Without consulting with members of the greek community, the board failed to interpret essential facts about the event changes. 

When it comes to the changes of Greek Getaway, a lot more went into the discussion than just the risks that the Editorial Board mentioned. Risk management was just one of many reasons to shift the focus away from the overnight visit. Another reason was on behalf of the 2013 Collegiate Panhellenic Council’s chapter presidents who voiced strong opinions about not hosting an overnight experience for incoming women. Chapter presidents believed the overnights were merely a pseudo-event meant to show off the surface level beauty of the community and its facilities rather than the reality of what the community actually stood for, such as leadership and sisterhood/brotherhood.

The National Panhellenic Conference and a number of national Panhellenic organizations expressed concerns about Greek Getaway conflicting with established policies. Prior to Panhellenic formal recruitment in the fall, many chapters on campus are promoting the greek experience and the values of making this lifelong decision. By including the overnight for women, potential members were given the opportunity to make only one strong connection with the chapter they stayed with during the overnight. This experience did not promote an equitable experience for all of our women going through formal recruitment. 

This year, Greek Visit Day took place instead of Greek Getaway, and our community was extremely excited to showcase the values that we hold. We invited all who attended the chance to discover more about each of our four councils and 55-plus chapters along with taking part in a large philanthropy event on campus. It was our hope that we could convey to our visitors what it truly meant to be a greek woman or man. 

In reference to the double standard for men and women in chapter facilities, this decision was made on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Every chapter implements different bylaws and procedures, similar to how different states enforce different laws. All of the bylaws and policies enforced by each chapter have been voted on by its members. 

Although this piece written was as an opinion piece, I would have hoped that as a reader and a member of the ISU Panhellenic Community, more opinions would have been sought after to avoid any personal biases. 

Thankfully, the Daily and our Panhellenic community value the respect of women and also agree that we should hold ourselves to a higher standard of womanhood.