With all the press Delta Lambda Phi has gotten lately, I was happy to see another feature on our growing colony here at UW-Madison. I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to a few of Marcie Benson's assertions in Monday's column.
First, she is quite right in saying that this campus has come a long way since days past. While I'm certainly not prepared to claim that every member of every fraternity on campus has a positive attitude toward LGBT individuals, I am proud to have known many openly gay Greeks, some holding prominent offices and serving on boards like the Interfraternity Council.
She claims ""having this new colony does not automatically mean the Greek system as a whole is more tolerant and accepting."" While we certainly hope our own progressive attitudes and presence will be a resource to others, we formed primarily to foster a bond of brotherhood, leadership and service through shared experience, not to educate the larger community.
She mentioned that ""the label ‘gay fraternity' could serve to isolate the organization,"" and I couldn't agree with her more. This label could lead to stereotypes or even isolation. This is one of the reasons we agreed early on that we want to represent ourselves as a fraternity for ""progressive men.""
In fact, one of DLP's founding purposes is ""to provide dignified and purposeful, social, service and recreational activities for progressive men, irrespective of sexual orientation."" We are not currently, nor do we have any ambition to become, a fraternity made up solely of gay men. We welcome all men with progressive attitudes and hope that our own presence perpetuates future progress!
Her concern that we might become isolated is fortunately unnecessary. We've happily accepted more support than we ever thought possible! We recently finished participating in UW Humorology, where we worked closely with Delta Delta Delta, Acacia and Phi Kappa Tau all year to fundraise for charity.
We've also worked closely with many other LGBT and/or student organizations such as the LGBT Campus Center, the Campus Women's Center, Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment, etc. If anything, we've been overwhelmed with opportunities to collaborate with other groups on campus and in the community!
Lastly, I would like to say that Ms. Benson is absolutely correct in saying that while the university has come a long way in its fight for progress, there are still battles to be won. I encourage her, and all UW-Madison students, to continue to fight for progress! As students, we all have amazing resources at our disposal here at UW-Madison.
I encourage you to take advantage of these resources and make the most of your college experience, just as the men of Delta Lambda Phi are doing.
Jakob Aebly
President
Delta Lambda Phi
