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The Dark Power Of Fraternities Analysis

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Pushed Under the Rug Red solo cups litter the wooden floor, stained with stale beer. The light fixture, once in tact, dangles from the ceiling, a victim of last nights party. Girls in tube tops and miniskirts lay sprawled across the couch. Red lipstick smudged across their face and clothes half on give the impression of the events that took place under their will. A boy’s face is grafiti to illicit pictures and vulgar slogans-- a mere casualty to the slew of brothers that thought it would be a funny joke to pull on the new pledgee. Fraternities, the deep roots of many American universities, have instilled the traditions of brotherhood, loyalty, and respect upon many young men entering college for the first time. Built with power, they intended …show more content…

In her article, “The Dark Power of Fraternities,” Flanagan argues that,“The also have a long, dark history of violence against their own members and visitors to their houses, which makes them in many respects at odds with the core mission of college itself.” In other words, there may be a lot of positives to fraternities; however, there are also some very serious issues that need to be dealt with and acknowledged. Because fraternities tend to get off with little punishment, it shows that the behavior is okay. Therefore, the number of injuries/deaths, assault, and rape continue to grow. For instance, a 19 year old sophomore, Amanda Andaverde, spent her first and only month at the University of Idaho. A member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority, she spent a weekday with her sisters at Sigma Chi. Getting bored of continuous “drinking games” and forced flirting with an “assigned date,” Amanda left to go to another fraternity, Sigma Alpha. This is where she would fall three stories off a “sleeping porch,” and suffer traumatic brain injury. Sleeping porches are referred to as “rack rooms”. These rooms are usually found on the top floor with huge windows that stay open around the clock (Flanagan 6). Andaverde’s family filed a lawsuit against the University of Idaho, SAE, and Tri Delta. In the end, the court dismissed the case due to a “summary judgement because there was no dispute that Andaverde fell out of an open window,” and they found no proof of threatening circumstances in her presence (Flanagan 6). In other words, the court dismissed the case before it even reached a full trial, concluding that Andaverde was aware of the open window and that the university or fraternity did not have the responsibility to protect her from her own behavior. Basically, the court claimed she initiated her own accident. How can a university or fraternity blame a victim of permanent brain damage for their accident? Especially when the

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