[332] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
read it and weep, rax...j/k.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Nnennia Ejebe)
Mon Apr 30 02:05:26 2001
Message-Id: <200104300604.CAA13074@melbourne-city-street.mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 02:03:59 -0400
To: mit-talk@MIT.EDU
From: Nnennia Ejebe <nnennia@MIT.EDU>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
So,
apparently A LOT of people were bored.
Nnennia
------------------
>To: Nnennia Ejebe <nnennia@mit.edu>
>From: Amado DeHoyos <amadod@MIT.EDU>
>Subject: Re: The ATO incident
>
>Nnennia,
>
> No, I wouldn't mind at all if you sent the previous emails to anyone that
>you felt needed to see them. One of the things that I have always
>attempted to do is change people's initial perceptions of our fraternity,
>and if you think those letters would help in that process, I would
>delightedly encourage you to forward them. Also, I would like to see the
>word passed around in order to make the general body of the campus aware
>that we are not bad people, nor should we be looked upon with hateful or
>disrespectful eyes. Thanks again.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Amado DeHoyos
------------------------
Nnennia,
My name is Amado DeHoyos, and I am a brother at Alpha Tau Omega and a
freshman here at MIT. I recently read your response to President Charles
Vest's email, and I was truly quite disheartened. You said in your letter
that you had taken the effort to search through the recent records to learn
more about our house and were able to obtain only a number of items, most
or all of which would rightfully put our house to shame. What I would like
to point out to you is that our house has indeed contributed positively to
the community at large, both here within MIT and also within the greater
Cambridge and Boston communities. Only last semester, as a fraternity, we
amounted 400 or more hours of community service, this amounts more than 8
hours per brother. What hasn't been noticed in articles that the Tech has
printed, what hasn't been pointed out to the MIT community, are the many
good things that we have done. Here are two events that weren't published
or spoken out about:
1) One of the brothers here coaches a little league soccer team in the
area, and when their season ended, we volunteered as a house to host a
barbecue with the players and their families. The children came to the
house, we participated in a mixed game of soccer with them, creating teams
of brothers and little league players, we ate together with them, and then
we played a number of different house games with them.
2) Before the Christmas holidays, we adopted families from the Cambridge
area. We invited them to our house, where we had planned a large dinner.
After the dinner, we had a brother dressed in a Santa Claus outfit give
presents that we (as individual brothers) had purchased to those families.
I'm not sure how much either of those events means to you, but they meant
a great deal to me, and I am positive that they meant a great deal to both
the young soccer players and the members of the respective families.
The larger community is very quick to point out faults within the
fraternity system and quick to blame many of the college woes upon us.
However, this need not be the case. For proof, I only ask you to look back
upon the events that have led up to the recent suspension of alcohol
privileges at Next House. As college students, we are one and many struck
with the many problems that are time and again brought to light.
In the context of the recent incident involving racism, I only ask you to
understand that you have heard only the case that the members of the Roots
pleaded. Understand that many of the aspects of their story were
tarnished, and also, that members of the police did not consult brothers
before publishing their findings. I also would like to point out to you
that Alpha Tau Omega is one of the most diverse houses on campus. Of the
50 brothers here, a great proportion are in fact minorities. I would, in
fact, be almost inclined to call the house a model for race relations here
at MIT in lieu of our diversity. I myself am hispanic, and in my short
time here, I have had the opportunity to room with a Persian, a white
Mormon, an African American, and two Asian brothers. I think if you were
to visit our house you would be surprised to see the amount of diversity
that is present in our supposedly 'racist' house.
In closing, understand that I am only writing this, not on behalf of the
house, but as a freshman who is saddened to see that other members of the
MIT community can only see us in this light. I think if you were to visit
the house, you would obtain a vastly different picture of the brotherhood.
Inasmuch, I am offering this letter as an invitation to meet myself and
other members of the house, in an attempt to allow you to develop a
different outlook not only on our house, but the fraternity as a whole here
at MIT. I think the truth of the matter is not something that can be
published in the Tech or any other publication, but something that should
be witnessed in the strength of our brotherhood and our actions as a house.
Thank you for your time in reading this response.
Sincerely,
Amado DeHoyos
------------------------------------
