[23446] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] Toast Song Argument Reflections...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Christopher Jon Stromberg)
Fri Jan 17 15:47:30 2003
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 12:47:25 -0800
Reply-To: Christopher Jon Stromberg <cstrombe@stanford.edu>
From: Christopher Jon Stromberg <cstrombe@stanford.edu>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <20030117201556.5357.qmail@web14302.mail.yahoo.com>
Jessica,
Yes, it is true that
> The Declaration of Independence states, "All Men Are Created Equal"
But keep in mind, this was written by a group of men, and, at least at the
time, it did NOT include women (not until 1920, with the passage of the
21st amendment). It also did not include black men until 1870 (15th
amendment). Let's keep our National history straight here.
As far as our Fraternity's Toast Song and other traditions,
traditions exist to serve the Fraternity. Not the other way around.
Traditions are good only in that they tie us to our heritage. If,
however, our traditions no longer represent who we are, they should be
changed.
Now, this argument has proceeded for many years on the basis of
women in APO arguing that they accept the statement that "Men of" includes
them. While that is true for those particular women, not all women agree
on that issue. There is also a bit of a regional bias in this debate.
Our country is not a homogenous entity. Although people in other
parts of the country may accept this logic, it is, by and large, rejected
by people on the West Coast. This is a cutural difference that exists
across the United States.
Many people do not realize how much the current wording of the
Toast Song hurts chapters on the West Coast. Currently, I am an active at
Zeta Chapter (Stanford University, in California). Over my many years as
an active out here, I have seen with my own eyes females who have
not joined APO because of a perception of a second class status of
women on the National level (due in large part to wording issues such as
the Toast Song). I have also known a number of female actives that have
never really felt fully embraced by the National Fraternity because of
these same issues.
Let me be clear. At least on the West Coast, the current wording
of the Toast Song makes recruitment and retention more difficult. It also
makes starting new chapters more difficult.
Keep in mind that those people who generally accept the statement
that "Men of" includes women are already members of the Fraternity. This
debate generally excludes those people who feel excluded by the language,
because they often will NOT JOIN the Fraternity.
If we had a membership policy that dated from the 1950's that made
recruiting and retension of dedicated brothers amoung many of our chapters
more difficult, it would have been changed long ago (as long as it wasn't
for legal reasons or some other such constraint). In the same way, the
Toast Song is long overdue for a change.
Chris Stromberg
Zeta Chapter
Stanford University
P.S. Please note that I also do maintain the use of the word "brother" in
this. I do this for the reasons stated previously, as well as the
pejoritive connotations that the term "sister" has had in past years in
our Fraternity (note the term "little sister" to designate female
associates before the full inclusion of women into the fraternity).
