Kent State University’s chapter of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity wanted to take a stand against sexual assault by hanging a massive sign on their house. Unfortunately, as the banner was larger than 40 square feet, the City of Kent ordered the fraternity to remove it or face legal consequences.
The original sign, put up during anti-hazing and sexual assault awareness week at Kent State University, displayed the message “Consent Matters #kNOwmore Sexual Assault.”
While many people offered to help pay the potential fees, recognizing that the message of the sign was more important than an ordinance, the Delta Tau Delta fraternity unveiled a professionally-made sign yesterday, measuring an ordinance-friendly 39 square feet.
Delta Tau Delta member Mike Trauman tweeted “We will continue to stand up for what we believe in, raise awareness, and play our part in making the world a better and safer place.”
In 2014, a study revealed that men in fraternities were 300 times more likely to rape a woman on campus. This horrific realization was a call to arms for Greek life institutions to make massive changes in their communities and culture.
It may seem like a passive-aggressive middle finger to a lame ordinance for the city to pursue enforcing (probably because it is), but the dedication the Kent State Delts have shown in raising awareness to the importance of consent is truly and sincerely inspiring.
This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2018.
THREE HUNDRED TIMES? That sounds pretty extreme to me, but my wife says she’s not surprised. Back in the day, when we were freshmen at a small private conservative college in another state, the Delts (Delta Tau Delta) were the most sexist and obnoxious pigs imaginable…if theyw eren’t the worst on our campus, they were a close second to another Greek outfit.
The Delts had a huge old house with a wraparound porch, directly across the street from one of the main gates to the campus, and any female walking by would face a barrage of whistles and hoots and appraisals and lewd comments from the drunken lecherous slobs who were guzzling brewskis on the porch.
And if there were no women in sight, they would go around back to feed and water their young dinosaurs…it was a LONG time ago…backin the early days of the war. Nver mind WHICH war.
I was shocked when I saw the Kent Delts on TV…different shit…different day…different century. It’s good to see that some frats are trying to clean up the toxic waste spills that their fellow Greeks seem to still be ejaculating anywhere and everywhere. Gives me hope. Maybe in another ten or twenty years there will be some positive changes in our culture. Or the maniacs will blow it all up. The jury is still out.
Not exactly the Kent State article I was looking for. No coverage on the gun girl’s event last weekend?
It was either a near-riot or merely a shouting match, depending on what channel you watched or what birdcage liner you read…and how many people they said were there and how “violent” things got.