Shilpa Giri
On Aug. 23, all NC State students were sent an email from the University informing them of two new COVID-19 clusters, formed in one fraternity and one sorority house, with a staggering total of 41 cases. Before today, students had received four more emails informing them of other clusters, seven in fraternity and sorority houses and two in off-campus housing locations and private residences near campus. Reader, have you noticed the pattern yet?
Out of the nine COVID-19 clusters we have been informed of, seven of them have originated from Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) chapter houses, totaling 115 cases within Greek life. I refuse to believe that is a coincidence. During the Student Senate meeting held on Aug. 20, 2020, Shelly Brown Dobek, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said, ”Not all clusters mean that inappropriate behavior was attached, it just means that five people or more living in a space share that.”
However, I find it highly suspicious that the majority of clusters have been found in chapter houses, especially when we have confirmed reports of a party that took place at Sigma Nu fraternity house on Aug. 13. If one fraternity did it, who knows how many more did, and how many members of other Greek life organizations attended that party, spreading the virus to their peers, both in their chapter house and on NC State’s campus as well? If the party was held on Aug. 13, why did it take the respective authorities this long to take action and get this information out to the public?
Furthermore, during the same meeting, Brown Dobek mentioned that the students in fraternity and sorority houses live in very tight quarters, sharing common bathrooms, kitchens and other facilities. However, this is not a living situation that is common only to students active in Greek life. Students living in on-campus housing also have similar, if not smaller, living spaces, sharing bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms with multiple students at a time. With 20 residence halls and four on-campus apartment communities, I’d say we house significantly more students than FSL.
Based on this information, either Brown Dobek is very wrong about what students in Greek chapter houses are up to, or the University is not reporting on-campus clusters within residence halls. It is not possible to claim Greek life students are forming clusters in chapter houses simply due to tight living conditions, with residence halls remaining cluster-free while having the same living conditions, unless someone is withholding information and not being honest with us.
Additionally, the FSL website has a number of COVID-19 guidelines for their students, with detailed instructions about physical distancing, self-reporting and face coverings, amongst other common instructions as well. However, I find it very funny how FSL tries to pretend like crazy parties don’t ever happen at these houses. While guidelines like “6 feet of physical distance” should imply that parties of over 100 people with alcohol, music and dancing should not be entertained under any circumstances, FSL should make it very clear about what repercussions students will face if they do, in fact, throw a party, like the students at Sigma Nu did.
While all students received an email informing them about COVID-19 clusters at Greek Village, there is no mention of the same information on FSL’s website. In fact, under their “Recent News” section, they talk about the NC State Panhellenic community’s new partnership for STEM education in Asia, amongst others. This news article was published on their website on Aug. 12, and since then, they have not uploaded a single article talking about the clusters in question and what students may have done to lead to this situation.
I do not believe that COVID-19 on NC State campus is solely students’ fault. The University was wrong to think everything would go back to normal, but that does not excuse individual students either.
The arguments backing up the students say that it is irresponsible to blame this situation on a bunch of 18-22-year-olds, but come on. If you’re 18, you’re an adult. If you got an acceptance letter from NC State, you’re smart enough to understand how serious this pandemic is. If you can balance both academics and the never-ending social and extracurricular obligations of Greek life, you know that going to or hosting a party during a pandemic is a bad idea.
So, no. I do not accept the fact that we should not blame students at all for the situation we have all been put in. You can not expect us to excuse Greek organizations for throwing a party during a pandemic and then hiding in their shell once the consequences hit, especially after most of us have done our best to have a normal semester and stay safe. Greek life is significantly responsible for spreading COVID-19 at NC State, and I demand an apology.
It’s bad enough that you acted irresponsibly. What’s worse is that you and your supervisors are trying to cover it up. We at NC State are not dumb enough to believe your shallow excuses, so lay out your mistakes in the open, apologize and cooperate with the larger NC State community to move forward and fix the mistakes that have been made while ensuring no more occur as well.
Greek life, own up to your bad decisions and fix them.