Love the Greeks? Hate them? There’s certainly been enough spouting of opinion from both camps over the past week. As opinion editor, I’ve never seen the letters to the editor inbox so full.

And you know what? That’s awesome.

A conversation has been started. Discussion can begin. That doesn’t mean we all get along, agree or even like each other. It means we respect one another, have intelligent dialogue and dig deep to find the reason behind our feelings. If you want an example of what I’m talking about, look no further than today’s comment of the day, where Josh Larson sums up the events of the week in one sentence:

“The articles, merely opinions (as Jill said), act as a topic-setting device so students and community members may voice their opinions and describe the true greek community of Iowa State through the means of letters to the editor (or even their own publications).”

You’ve voiced your opinions. You’ve made yourselves heard, greek and non-greek. This isn’t about The Daily and some columns that get under your collar — it’s about who we are as a campus and as a student body.

Never has that been so clear as now.

After receiving a letter to the editor — which you can read on page nine — that addressed racist language written on the fraternity of Pi Kappa Alpha’s lawn display, I headed out to see if the claims were true.

Sure enough, there was the phrase, “Allah creates, we cremate.”

It looked decrepit and decayed. It hovered high above the ground, accompanied by splotches of runny white paint.

But was this the doing of the fraternity itself? As I chatted with the men of Pi Kappa Alpha, it seemed not to be.

Grant Holdren, Pi Kappa Alpha President, said it pretty plainly. “Property damage is one thing, but creating a sign outside that displays racism or faithism is upsetting.”

“I don’t think we have any issues with racism, sexism and homophobia,” Holdren said. “If there’s any shadow of that, it’s dealt with.”

Jeff Kruse, a junior in civil engeineering and member of Pi Kappa Alpha, said it “wasn’t the first time” vandalism had happened against the fraternity.

“Last year, people came by and knocked over our display.” He pointed to the wooden skeleton of this year’s display as the other men congregated and agreed — some silently, some audibly. Holdren hypothesized the culprit could have simply been a rowdy pedestrian walking down Lincoln Way.

“Or someone from the dorms with nothing better to do,” Holdren said.

At first, I wasn’t sure what to think.

Was this true? An intoxicated vandal wasn’t likely to have the coordination to climb the 15 to 20 feet of scaffolding one would need to overcome in order to write the message.

The letters seemed to have been written fairly cleanly, despite that they were almost surely written upside-down.

Chapter policy prevented Pi Kappa Alpha members from writing in to the Daily in any shape or form, even if it was to defend their image, and details about who knew about the message and when they knew were sparse at best. It made me wonder.

But the message is far higher than eye level, and according to the Pi Kappa Alpha men, no one had informed them of the message.

It was entirely plausible they had simply missed it and dealt with the situation as best they could at the time. It certainly seemed unlikely that a greek organization would risk its reputation during this week of all weeks.

On top of this, the white paint was described as the fraternity’s attempt to be rid of the message. The black marker had bled through the white paint, which certainly adds to the theory that this was not, as some would have believed, an act the fraternity supported.

As I pondered the situation, a rickety and rotting car growled down Lincoln Way. From within came a shout:

“Nice shirt, faggot!”

Presumably, this jerk was screaming at John Kennedy, who was wearing a pink shirt at the time. (And, by the way, it is my opinion there’s nothing wrong with pink shirts. Or being gay for that matter. But I digress.)

“Every time we’re out here working, people yell stuff,” said Kruse.

I looked around at the Pi Kappa Alpha men. They seemed genuinely upset, frustrated, and fearful of how events could be taken the wrong way. I looked to where the words, now covered by duct tape, had been.

What had the point been? Where was all this coming from and where was it headed?

The greek/non-greek divide has been around as long as there’s been a greek system, and that isn’t likely to change soon.

Greeks seem to believe that their system could do no wrong, while non-Greeks seem to be as hateful towards the system as can be, regardless of its merits.

All it takes is one sour experience to put a dampener on one’s entire view.

Last year I recalled how members of another fraternity had thrown pumpkins towards my car as I drove down Lincoln Way. I admit that event’s still a little sore to me.

That story and the events of this week might make you wonder, “Does Sophie like the Greek system?” The answer is no, and I have my reasons, pumpkin chucking not the largest of them.

I don’t like a lot of the opinions I read every day. But that doesn’t mean I refuse them.

Opinions, however strongly we disagree with them, have a right to be heard, and so I approve even those I dislike for publication.

And why not?

It leads to exactly what’s happening now: sides standing and talking with one other — not at each other — and real progress being made, respect dominating.

– Sophie Prell is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Alta, Iowa.