We used a remaining stock to re-flier broadway. We are working on a more sensitive version for mass consumption. This was a test run a we went a little overboard.
It’s not a low blow, it’s true. Also, if your members are stupid enough to sell
to obviously undercover guys (any adult non-student buying drugs from a frat
should set off some alarms), then you don’t deserve a brownstone anyway.
This is not who we are, and this is NOT okay. Why should that not carry for fraternities as well? It is not right to generalize all fraternities based on the crimes of only one.
um you mean MORE than one. get your facts straight.
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Daniel McConnell CC'14 • October 27, 2012 at 6:57 pm • Reply
I red this sign and it makes me absolutely sick to go to a university where these kinds of things are acceptable. Greek life has done everything that the university has asked of it. It wanted us to do more community service, we did it. It asked us to give more money, we gave it. It asked us to become more involved on campus, we did it. Greek life is a brotherhood and a sisterhood that does a lot of good on campus. I believe Columbia is better for it. People at this university cannot ask us to do more and then attack our character. It doesn’t work that way. 4/5 people busted a year and a half ago for selling drugs were members of a fraternity. They were arrested and are now doing their time. And how did Greek life respond? We adopted the Alpha standards, which hold us to a non subjective measure of how much we do for this campus from leadership buildings to community service, from raising money to interacting with our alumni. We will continue to do everything the university asks of us. We will exceed those expectations whether we have a house or not. Will fraternities still throw parties? Yes, fraternities will still throw parties. Will the marching band still throw parties? Yes, they will. Will the democrats and republicans still throw parties? Yes, they will. Do no ask us to do things that you do not ask of other students groups. Do not insult us, or ridicule us. We are a part of campus tradition, we are a part of the whole. Greek life is important to campus. I do not insult any group or wish to take away any other group’s accomplishments. I only wish to show that Greek life has earned its place on campus, that Greek life deserves to compete for houses, that Greek life should not be condemned for the work of a small group of individuals within a greater whole. We are as important to the campus community as any other students group. I am not afraid to say that I am a member of the Greek community. I will not hide behind a fake name. Greek life does not hide. We are proud of who we are and we will continue to bear our letters upon our chests.
Daniel McConnell CC’14
A proud member of Phi Gamma Delta
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The Dark Hand • October 27, 2012 at 7:30 pm • Reply
listen daniel,
you seem like a nice enough guy. I think you might fit in at Dartmouth.
The Greeks have done nothing but embarrass Columbia to a national audience, on a national scale. Over two years later we are still on national TV about a disgraced story. Stories like this hurt admissions. I am sorry, but most of the drinking and drugs are from frats. Everyone knows this. The dens and republicans are not getting arrested selling drugs to cops.
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Anon • October 27, 2012 at 9:10 pm •
So did the Marching Band ridiculing Football last year and getting banned (it was on the front page of yahoo on their main news section). Frats are ~20% of the student body but dont tell me that that only 20% of the student body drinks. Frats also donate a lot of money (yes so do other groups, yes it is required, but its still donations) to charities. They participate in CCO and RFL.
We are all Columbia students. We all deserve respect. We all have the power to disgrace and to bring positive publicity for Columbia. Fraternity, Sorority, and other members of our community do incredible things on a daily basis. There is no reason to generalize across the community.
Also, given the drug usage rates at this college and many others, it logically follows that there have to be affiliated drug dealers on campus. We got busted in a high profile case. There are still more on campus and more in other colleges. Its disgraceful yes, but it is a statistical inevitability.
I will not hide behind a fake name. Greek life does not hide. We are proud of who we are and we will continue to bear our letters upon our chests.
was this last part really necessary?
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Daniel McConnell CC'2014 • October 27, 2012 at 10:34 pm •
It was necessary. Is it necessary for an Obama supporter to wear a button or a shirt? Is it necessary for you to wear something that says Columbia on it? If you cannot openly express an identity that you believe in, then I feel sorry for you.
I agree that it isn’t productive or accurate to generalize all fraternities under one negative umbrella, however, I think it is disappointing that the university is not considering more of the groups that could have a more wide ranging impact on the campus community.
This is absolutely absurd. The fact that there’s this anti-Greek bias at columbia is somewhat acceptable. But to associate the pictures of the “kingpins of operation ivy league” with the browstone application is absolutely low and disgusting. I don’t know what preconceptions people have about fraternity life at columbia, but they provide a safe community for a number of individuals and also contribute to the social life of the “most stressful school” the country. I will tear down every one of these fliers I see. This is not right.
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Geordi La Forge • October 27, 2012 at 8:02 pm • Reply
And they will be reposted instantly. They will be handed out in person, by me, in butler. People will know why these frats got kicked out.
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Thanks Geordi • October 28, 2012 at 12:34 am •
For providing a a service to our community. We all know that the actions of any single individual in any organization can, should, and must be representative of the organization as a whole. So while you take down the fraternities because a single member sold drugs, make sure you take down the IRC, and while you’re at it, Carman, EC, McBain (I’m sure someone living in each of these dorms has sold weed before). Way to spend your time constructively, showing the true Columbia spirit of disregarding logic and ethics and taking action on a stereotype you’ve reached out of a ridiculous generalization. For an engineer/science-oriented student you should know that one data point (one person selling drugs in an entire fraternity) is not statistically significant to support your argument. I urge you to stay in Butler and spend your time studying so you can learn enough to be an intelligent and productive member of society – once you’ve learned statistics you can start your quest to destroy Greek life. Thanks bro.
Columbia will be the laughing stock of the blogosphere if we give ousted drug frats their houses back less than two years later. This is very dangerous for Columbia administration to do.
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A typical Columbia student • October 28, 2012 at 12:36 am • Reply
Great point! If Columbia’s reputation isn’t pristine by the time I graduate Goldman Sachs won’t hire me even with a 4.0 majoring in Art History which I’ve majored in to boost my GPA and sell my soul to Wall Street!!!
Jason Yang CC'15 • October 27, 2012 at 9:57 pm • Reply
I do not know if it’s the smartest move to give housing back to the fraternities that were involved in Operation Ivy League, but it is an act of absolute ignorance to be claiming that fraternities do not deserve an opportunity for new housing in general. To say that “The Greeks have done nothing but embarrass Columbia to a national audience, on a national scale” shows me that you are far too uninformed about the matter at hand to have a reasonable or respectable opinion regarding the topic. So let me educate you: all greek organizations are expected to uphold a certain standard, as quantified by the ALPHA standards (an acronym standing for Academics, Leadership, Philanthropy, Housing, and Alumni). Fraternities and sororities are allotted a certain number of stars (3-5) depending on how well they fulfill the very specific requirements such as x hours of service per member or y dollars raised per member. As a member of Phi Gamma Delta (more popularly known as Fiji), I can provide you with some specific examples of our methods of ALPHA standard fulfillment. Over 60% of our brotherhood attended an event sponsored by Columbia Community Outreach, cleaning up the dirtiest parks in all of Manhattan, in which we found several used syringes and a dead puppy. We also attended the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walkathon, hosted a Career Fair, for which dozens of our notable alumni came to discuss their paths in their respective professions to all Columbia students who were interested, and held a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity at Il Cibreo and used the thousands of dollars we raised to subsidize the travel costs for Columbia students building shelters in Portland. In addition to that, 1 of our 4 members of CAVA is a certified CPR instructor and co-founded CU-CPR, a class that certifies anyone who is interested for CPR at a fraction of the cost of a normal CPR class. Fiji attended one of these classes, making 60% of our fraternity CPR certified. In addition to that, we are installing a new program that requires all newly initiated brothers to become CPR certified, making our fraternity 100% CPR certified by 2016. We also participate in monthly soup kitchens, collaborating with the Bank Street Kids, a kindergarden-8th grade school on the upper West side. We are also attempting to offer tutoring opportunities for these children as well as host a toiletry drive with them. The initiatives I have just enumerated are a fraction of what our fraternity has to offer Columbia and the community around it. And keep in mind, FIJI HAS NOT HAD A HOUSE FOR 10 YEARS. I’m not going to pretend that we don’t throw parties or that we are not prone to getting in trouble, but I’m trying to make sure that others don’t pretend that they are right in saying that fraternities are merely negative influences on the community. Fiji builds itself internally, externally (the Columbia community), and macroscopically (Morningside Heights in general), and I’m sure the other greek organizations do the same. I’d like to challenge any individual to tell me how you’ve directly benefited others without a network of friends who care as strongly about your cause as you do. We deserve a chance to make names for ourselves at Columbia and nobody has the right to tell us otherwise.
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Daniel McConnell CC'2014 • October 27, 2012 at 10:30 pm • Reply
Though Jason highlighted what Fiji has done, all the other fraternities and the single sorority that are up for a brownstone have accomplishments similar and different to our own. We highlight our self because that is what we know best. Do not criticize us for defending what we have done for this university. You say Greek life has embarrassed the fraternity and ruined admissions to our school. The year after “operation ivy league”, we had a record number of student apply to our school. Your point is uninformed. A woman got busted at Cornell with $150,000 worth of heroin in the same week. In my opinion, Cornell is still one of the finest universities in America. The people who got busted selling drugs were stupid. They made a bad decision but Greek life responded by raising record amounts of money for charity and committing records hours to service. Tell me your accomplishments before you criticize ours.
It is sad how students who I’m sure believe themselves to be crusaders for tolerance when it comes to LGBT or woman’s rights are themselves so intolerant and hateful when it comes to the Greek community. Greeks contribute nothing? Objectively, it is obvious that such a statement is unfounded. For instance, thousands of dollars and hours go to charity every year from Greeks. In my eyes, it could be millions and it would not make a difference. To them, any amount of positive contribution can only have been achieved for nefarious and selfish reasons, thereby nullifying the worth of all contributions. None of these students have made an effort to actually learn about what these organizations have done over the past 2 years or how they’ve changed. It is simply ignorance-fueled hatred.
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Downvote Me if You Want • October 28, 2012 at 12:42 am • Reply
These stupid ignorant self-absorbed frat boys do not deserve a brownstone. They do not deserve recognition. They do not deserve to be at Columbia. They do not deserve to be treated as adults. They deserve only each other.
I’m sorry, but these self-righteous people need to be taken down a peg. I was a freshman when Operation Ivy League happened, and while I may not have been here to witness the conditions that made it unfold, I’ve seen huge improvements that got AEPi and Pike into the finals after all. Personally, I hoped that all three fraternities got their houses back. The fact that the frats lost housing for two years because of the actions of one or two people (who were expelled, BTW), while no one in the IRC or EC was punished strikes me as ridiculous.
People keep talking about these ‘big improvements’ that the frats have made & all the strides they’ve made, but no one has yet to give any examples. I wish I could believe that fraternities are full of great guys who want to do good things, but have never seen them do anything besides bullshit pseudo-fundraising parties at Mel’s etc. Organizations that are primarily social clubs don’t need housing.
Tho props to SigEp for co-sponsoring DVAM events earlier this month (though even then they didn’t offer their house as an event space)
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Anonymous • October 28, 2012 at 1:52 pm •
Read what we do for ALPHA Standards, and then look at how many earned top ratings.
We posted these in broadway too, but they got taken down.
We used a remaining stock to re-flier broadway. We are working on a more sensitive version for mass consumption. This was a test run a we went a little overboard.
Someone got a bad lottery number last year…
Dumb. Fraternities rule!!!!
That’s a poor argument.
Good Point. I wonder how long it will be until the frat brigade will show up
here to spam the comments section.
It’s not a low blow, it’s true. Also, if your members are stupid enough to sell
to obviously undercover guys (any adult non-student buying drugs from a frat
should set off some alarms), then you don’t deserve a brownstone anyway.
Check bored@butler. They’re trolls. Confirmed.
u mad bra
dude/dudette, you’re the one with the issues. Go do a problemset.
The frats that lost their houses should definitely
NOT be in the running to get them back.
GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS
This is not who we are, and this is NOT okay. Why should that not carry for fraternities as well? It is not right to generalize all fraternities based on the crimes of only one.
um you mean MORE than one. get your facts straight.
I red this sign and it makes me absolutely sick to go to a university where these kinds of things are acceptable. Greek life has done everything that the university has asked of it. It wanted us to do more community service, we did it. It asked us to give more money, we gave it. It asked us to become more involved on campus, we did it. Greek life is a brotherhood and a sisterhood that does a lot of good on campus. I believe Columbia is better for it. People at this university cannot ask us to do more and then attack our character. It doesn’t work that way. 4/5 people busted a year and a half ago for selling drugs were members of a fraternity. They were arrested and are now doing their time. And how did Greek life respond? We adopted the Alpha standards, which hold us to a non subjective measure of how much we do for this campus from leadership buildings to community service, from raising money to interacting with our alumni. We will continue to do everything the university asks of us. We will exceed those expectations whether we have a house or not. Will fraternities still throw parties? Yes, fraternities will still throw parties. Will the marching band still throw parties? Yes, they will. Will the democrats and republicans still throw parties? Yes, they will. Do no ask us to do things that you do not ask of other students groups. Do not insult us, or ridicule us. We are a part of campus tradition, we are a part of the whole. Greek life is important to campus. I do not insult any group or wish to take away any other group’s accomplishments. I only wish to show that Greek life has earned its place on campus, that Greek life deserves to compete for houses, that Greek life should not be condemned for the work of a small group of individuals within a greater whole. We are as important to the campus community as any other students group. I am not afraid to say that I am a member of the Greek community. I will not hide behind a fake name. Greek life does not hide. We are proud of who we are and we will continue to bear our letters upon our chests.
Daniel McConnell CC’14
A proud member of Phi Gamma Delta
listen daniel,
you seem like a nice enough guy. I think you might fit in at Dartmouth.
The Greeks have done nothing but embarrass Columbia to a national audience, on a national scale. Over two years later we are still on national TV about a disgraced story. Stories like this hurt admissions. I am sorry, but most of the drinking and drugs are from frats. Everyone knows this. The dens and republicans are not getting arrested selling drugs to cops.
So did the Marching Band ridiculing Football last year and getting banned (it was on the front page of yahoo on their main news section). Frats are ~20% of the student body but dont tell me that that only 20% of the student body drinks. Frats also donate a lot of money (yes so do other groups, yes it is required, but its still donations) to charities. They participate in CCO and RFL.
We are all Columbia students. We all deserve respect. We all have the power to disgrace and to bring positive publicity for Columbia. Fraternity, Sorority, and other members of our community do incredible things on a daily basis. There is no reason to generalize across the community.
Also, given the drug usage rates at this college and many others, it logically follows that there have to be affiliated drug dealers on campus. We got busted in a high profile case. There are still more on campus and more in other colleges. Its disgraceful yes, but it is a statistical inevitability.
@Anon: oh no, yahoo.
lol.
…yes, it sounds like Fiji did great things. now, why aren’t you in the top 6 for getting house, then?
BECAUSE THE HOUSING COMMITTEE SUCKS
I will not hide behind a fake name. Greek life does not hide. We are proud of who we are and we will continue to bear our letters upon our chests.
was this last part really necessary?
It was necessary. Is it necessary for an Obama supporter to wear a button or a shirt? Is it necessary for you to wear something that says Columbia on it? If you cannot openly express an identity that you believe in, then I feel sorry for you.
What exactly is the contribution of greek life to the university community?
I agree that it isn’t productive or accurate to generalize all fraternities under one negative umbrella, however, I think it is disappointing that the university is not considering more of the groups that could have a more wide ranging impact on the campus community.
This is absolutely absurd. The fact that there’s this anti-Greek bias at columbia is somewhat acceptable. But to associate the pictures of the “kingpins of operation ivy league” with the browstone application is absolutely low and disgusting. I don’t know what preconceptions people have about fraternity life at columbia, but they provide a safe community for a number of individuals and also contribute to the social life of the “most stressful school” the country. I will tear down every one of these fliers I see. This is not right.
And they will be reposted instantly. They will be handed out in person, by me, in butler. People will know why these frats got kicked out.
For providing a a service to our community. We all know that the actions of any single individual in any organization can, should, and must be representative of the organization as a whole. So while you take down the fraternities because a single member sold drugs, make sure you take down the IRC, and while you’re at it, Carman, EC, McBain (I’m sure someone living in each of these dorms has sold weed before). Way to spend your time constructively, showing the true Columbia spirit of disregarding logic and ethics and taking action on a stereotype you’ve reached out of a ridiculous generalization. For an engineer/science-oriented student you should know that one data point (one person selling drugs in an entire fraternity) is not statistically significant to support your argument. I urge you to stay in Butler and spend your time studying so you can learn enough to be an intelligent and productive member of society – once you’ve learned statistics you can start your quest to destroy Greek life. Thanks bro.
Columbia will be the laughing stock of the blogosphere if we give ousted drug frats their houses back less than two years later. This is very dangerous for Columbia administration to do.
Great point! If Columbia’s reputation isn’t pristine by the time I graduate Goldman Sachs won’t hire me even with a 4.0 majoring in Art History which I’ve majored in to boost my GPA and sell my soul to Wall Street!!!
right. and kinds of people popiulate frats
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/columbiabrownstones/
KEEP THE BROWNSTONES IN THE GENERAL SELECTION
I do not know if it’s the smartest move to give housing back to the fraternities that were involved in Operation Ivy League, but it is an act of absolute ignorance to be claiming that fraternities do not deserve an opportunity for new housing in general. To say that “The Greeks have done nothing but embarrass Columbia to a national audience, on a national scale” shows me that you are far too uninformed about the matter at hand to have a reasonable or respectable opinion regarding the topic. So let me educate you: all greek organizations are expected to uphold a certain standard, as quantified by the ALPHA standards (an acronym standing for Academics, Leadership, Philanthropy, Housing, and Alumni). Fraternities and sororities are allotted a certain number of stars (3-5) depending on how well they fulfill the very specific requirements such as x hours of service per member or y dollars raised per member. As a member of Phi Gamma Delta (more popularly known as Fiji), I can provide you with some specific examples of our methods of ALPHA standard fulfillment. Over 60% of our brotherhood attended an event sponsored by Columbia Community Outreach, cleaning up the dirtiest parks in all of Manhattan, in which we found several used syringes and a dead puppy. We also attended the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walkathon, hosted a Career Fair, for which dozens of our notable alumni came to discuss their paths in their respective professions to all Columbia students who were interested, and held a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity at Il Cibreo and used the thousands of dollars we raised to subsidize the travel costs for Columbia students building shelters in Portland. In addition to that, 1 of our 4 members of CAVA is a certified CPR instructor and co-founded CU-CPR, a class that certifies anyone who is interested for CPR at a fraction of the cost of a normal CPR class. Fiji attended one of these classes, making 60% of our fraternity CPR certified. In addition to that, we are installing a new program that requires all newly initiated brothers to become CPR certified, making our fraternity 100% CPR certified by 2016. We also participate in monthly soup kitchens, collaborating with the Bank Street Kids, a kindergarden-8th grade school on the upper West side. We are also attempting to offer tutoring opportunities for these children as well as host a toiletry drive with them. The initiatives I have just enumerated are a fraction of what our fraternity has to offer Columbia and the community around it. And keep in mind, FIJI HAS NOT HAD A HOUSE FOR 10 YEARS. I’m not going to pretend that we don’t throw parties or that we are not prone to getting in trouble, but I’m trying to make sure that others don’t pretend that they are right in saying that fraternities are merely negative influences on the community. Fiji builds itself internally, externally (the Columbia community), and macroscopically (Morningside Heights in general), and I’m sure the other greek organizations do the same. I’d like to challenge any individual to tell me how you’ve directly benefited others without a network of friends who care as strongly about your cause as you do. We deserve a chance to make names for ourselves at Columbia and nobody has the right to tell us otherwise.
Though Jason highlighted what Fiji has done, all the other fraternities and the single sorority that are up for a brownstone have accomplishments similar and different to our own. We highlight our self because that is what we know best. Do not criticize us for defending what we have done for this university. You say Greek life has embarrassed the fraternity and ruined admissions to our school. The year after “operation ivy league”, we had a record number of student apply to our school. Your point is uninformed. A woman got busted at Cornell with $150,000 worth of heroin in the same week. In my opinion, Cornell is still one of the finest universities in America. The people who got busted selling drugs were stupid. They made a bad decision but Greek life responded by raising record amounts of money for charity and committing records hours to service. Tell me your accomplishments before you criticize ours.
It is sad how students who I’m sure believe themselves to be crusaders for tolerance when it comes to LGBT or woman’s rights are themselves so intolerant and hateful when it comes to the Greek community. Greeks contribute nothing? Objectively, it is obvious that such a statement is unfounded. For instance, thousands of dollars and hours go to charity every year from Greeks. In my eyes, it could be millions and it would not make a difference. To them, any amount of positive contribution can only have been achieved for nefarious and selfish reasons, thereby nullifying the worth of all contributions. None of these students have made an effort to actually learn about what these organizations have done over the past 2 years or how they’ve changed. It is simply ignorance-fueled hatred.
I think you’re really cute, Jenny.
These stupid ignorant self-absorbed frat boys do not deserve a brownstone. They do not deserve recognition. They do not deserve to be at Columbia. They do not deserve to be treated as adults. They deserve only each other.
I’m sorry, but these self-righteous people need to be taken down a peg. I was a freshman when Operation Ivy League happened, and while I may not have been here to witness the conditions that made it unfold, I’ve seen huge improvements that got AEPi and Pike into the finals after all. Personally, I hoped that all three fraternities got their houses back. The fact that the frats lost housing for two years because of the actions of one or two people (who were expelled, BTW), while no one in the IRC or EC was punished strikes me as ridiculous.
People keep talking about these ‘big improvements’ that the frats have made & all the strides they’ve made, but no one has yet to give any examples. I wish I could believe that fraternities are full of great guys who want to do good things, but have never seen them do anything besides bullshit pseudo-fundraising parties at Mel’s etc. Organizations that are primarily social clubs don’t need housing.
Tho props to SigEp for co-sponsoring DVAM events earlier this month (though even then they didn’t offer their house as an event space)
Read what we do for ALPHA Standards, and then look at how many earned top ratings.
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_full/images/2-24-12_ALPHA_Standards_0.jpg
http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/sites/dsa/files/handbooks/April2012_0.pdf
You only see the “bullshit fundraising” at Mel’s. You don’t see us, for example, picking up trash in Riverside park on a Saturday.
Did pike raise $12,000 for relay for life?
Yes.
The frats at Dartmouth, Penn, and Cornell are always in the news for doing something stupid.