Joseph Green – Contributing Writer
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Gee golly, those TKE guys sure do have a sense of humor. Did you hear? The theme for their initiation party was originally “Corporate CEOs and Corporate Hoes.” Apparently someone wisely understood that this would be a problem, and instructed TKE to change their theme to “Corporate CEOs and Corporate Woes.” How do I know all this? It was on Facebook!
So far, little mistake, little apology – no harm no foul. But, NOPE. Members of TKE took to Facebook to complain about their party being ruined by the substitution of the letter ‘w’ for the letter ‘h’. One member remarked “Corporate woes… Well this won’t be fun anymore.” Another gentlemen, claiming (sarcastically) to be a member of Women for Political Progress at UAB (WPP at UAB), responded by calling the name change “A WIN FOR WOMEN EVERYWHERE.” (An overstatement, of course – to me, a WIN would be some official reprimand against the chapter.) Anyhow, members of TKE kept up the comedy routine. One member of TKE mustered his Composition 101 command of imagery to highlight the absurdity that a MAN would speak in support of WPP, saying, “I can almost hear the whip that slashes your back.” Another TKE brother dubbed this the “Quote of the year.”
So here we are. The posts have now been deleted, but snapshots of the posts remain in a conversation on the WPP’s Facebook page, where I saw them. I like WPP, because they do awesome stuff, like organizing debate parties, hosting interesting speakers, and promoting gender equality for all. In my opinion, this group of women and men deserves an apology from the brothers at TKE who sucker punched WPP based on the (probably correct) assumption that WPP would be upset with a fraternity sanctioning an event referring to women as “hoes.” I think it’s reasonable to ask TKE to offer assurances that something like this won’t happen again. While we’re waiting, allow me to take you on a journey.
To the brothers of TKE that mocked WPP on Facebook: take a moment and travel with me to “adulthood,” where no one wears bowties except for Bill Nye. Let’s pretend some of you have jobs in a corporate environment, and that you work beside women. Perhaps you work for a woman. Now, tell me how you would define the phrase “Corporate Hoe” to your boss. (Oh, by the way, that could actually happen. This may be news to you, but employers check out potential hires on Facebook.)
Meanwhile, we have returned to the present, where you represent the school, your organization (presumably an organization that does not sanction this kind of disrespect) and yourselves. Look around. You have fellow students who are women. You have professors who are women. You have family members who are women. Show some respect.
