Frat Culture and Confederate Nostalgia
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I used to teach at Southwestern University in Texas. It’s a weird place in that it really isn’t that conservative of a school, but there is a huge Greek culture there, which means, or at least it did a decade ago, that even hippie kids end up joining the Greek system. It was pretty weird. Anyway, when you have this scenario, this is the kind of thing that happens:
On July 13, Kappa Alpha Order at Southwestern University published a social media post denouncing its historical connection to the Confederacy and Robert E. Lee.
Lee is the so-called “Spiritual Founder” of KA. The Xi Chapter at Southwestern was founded in 1883. The historical marker on the KA house there notes the historical links to Lee and the Confederacy.
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Because of the threat of legal action, active members at the now-suspended fraternity declined to do interviews. However, alumni felt comfortable doing so. Lopez, along with Mitch Petersen, a 2016 alumnus, both said these changes were a long time coming. At first, these changes were internal.
“Probably for the past five or six years,” Petersen said. “First, getting rid of some of the iconography and references to Robert E. Lee in our own chapter. Then, in the current climate with Black Lives Matter protests, this should not have come as a shock to anyone who has been engaged.”
In a statement to KVUE, Wiese reiterated the suspension came because the active chapter members, after meeting with national officers to review the statement, did not return to the officers after making any revisions. One alum who was present during those phone conversations said they don’t recall promising to return with revisions, but isn’t 100% sure. The alum declined to reveal his identity due to his current job.
He added that some revisions were made to the original statement that was written; however, those revisions were not the ones Wiese and the national officers proposed. The alum familiar with the phone call said the proposed changes “weakened” the initial statement and active members did not want that.
Yes, that’s right–the fraternity chapter was suspended in 2020 for criticizing Robert E. Lee.
If it was up to me, the entire Greek system would be nuked and then have the earth salted, and then the whole thing paved over, just to make sure they couldn’t spring up again. Even when some of them try to do something good, the system makes sure they can’t.
And in case you are wondering, the image from the Kappa Alpha frat at…wait for it…the University of Alabama.