If your eyes are wandering from the column to your left, you might be thinking, “Hey, Andrew Friedson did a lot of stuff this semester,” and you’d be right. However, one thing that’s left for Friedson to do is choose legality over brotherhood and condemn the act of hazing that occurred earlier this semester at the hands of Zeta Beta Tau, Friedson’s own fraternity.
We understand the dilemma – Friedson has an obligation to the fraternity he belongs to, and an obligation to the university community at large, and there can be conflicts. Unfortunately, Friedson’s fraternity membership during a history of hazing cited by the fraternity’s national organization may have helped enable an act that injured a new member of the fraternity.
Friedson took on a responsibility the moment he began campaigning for the position of Student Government Association president last spring: to effectively uphold the best interest of the student population of the university above anything else. And yes, that responsibility unfortunately includes standing up to your friends when your friends make a poor decision, particularly one that is in the public eye.
Regardless of whether Friedson was present at the time of the incident, the acknowledgment that hazing at Zeta Beta Tau has happened before raises questions about whether Friedson was ever present during similar acts during his membership period. He’s been less than forthcoming about that. While most fraternity members have a right to keep their activities private, Friedson ran for office and has taken on the responsibilities of a public figure.
Would Friedson have remained silent had the fraternity been Sigma Nu or Lambda Chi Alpha? Is his affiliation with the accused chapter directly resulting in his silence on the matter?
While we accept that fraternities are about brotherhood and about sticking together in times of crisis – and even using the opportunity as a learning experience – Friedson’s dual role as a member of an organization that hazes while serving in the highest student-held office raises serious questions about what the university is willing to accept from its leaders.
It doesn’t stop at Friedson, however. Another president of a prestigious student organization, the Interfraternity Council, is a member of Zeta Beta Tau. In fact, IFC President Arkady Gelman was a member of the executive board of Zeta Beta Tau. So while Friedson has the luxury of distancing himself from the hazing event that became public knowledge, Gelman was a leader of the organization itself, and the national organization this year held leaders accountable for what went down there.
It must seem odd to members of the Greek community to have the IFC, which is set up as a self-governing organization that has the power to hand down punishments for violations of policy such as underage alcohol use, have as its president a member of a fraternity that has been cast in the spotlight for hazing.
Or perhaps hazing is still so prevalent in the Greek community that it’s well accepted as a tradition that’s meant to be kept secret. Maybe Zeta Beta Tau is just viewed as the fraternity that was dumb enough to get caught. If this is the case, something needs to change.
While The Diamondback is somewhat sympathetic to what appears to be extraordinarily strict Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life oversight, as long as organizations such as Zeta Beta Tau defy hazing policies, the campus’s Greek community shouldn’t be surprised to be under strict regulations. Hazing is far cry from getting caught with an unregistered party. It’s an illegal, depraved activity initiated by bottom-feeders and engaged in by people willing to be treated like chattel.
Not exactly what you’d call an ideal college experience.
Albus Dumbledore once said, “It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.” That’s the mark of leadership, and it appears as though Friedson and Gelman have failed their own brothers – and perhaps the university at large – in not taking a stronger stand against a disgraceful practice that deserves the scorn of the campus community.
