Aug. 29, 2016

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Get a taste

Over-The-Rhine and Blue Ash sample out some of their best culinary offerings

One last season

Tion Green wants to make the most of his senior season

THE NEWS RECORD / UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI MONDAY, AUG. 29, 2016

LGBTQ diversity in UC greek life LAUREN MORETTO | NEWS EDITOR

PROVIDED BY UC STUDENT

Residents of 2729 Stratford Ave hang profane sheet off balcony, Aug. 21, 2016.

Lewd banner not who we are as community TNR STAFF | EDITORIAL

Traditions define the college experience, but some have no place continuing. A particularly unacceptable tradition is the grossly, graphically sexual banner displayed at the beginning of the semester. Houses near and oncampus across the country over the years have been reprimanded for similar signs. The University of Cincinnati is no exception. At 2729 Stratford Avenue, a banner read, “Your daughter got a gag reflex?” during UC’s Welcome Back Weekend. The News Record stands with UC Student Government, which released a formal statement Friday that condemned the banner in the strongest possible terms: “The banner builds a predatory environment, and no student should fear for their safety on campus. Undeniably misogynistic, the comments contribute to rape culture by objectifying women. Our institution upholds the values of respect and inclusiveness. Therefore, we as a body reject all discriminatory behavior from our UC community. This form of sexism will not be tolerated.” The off-campus house’s misogynistic banner has triggered a Title IX investigation. The National Pan-Hellenic Council, UC Panhellenic and the Inter Fraternity Council endorsed SG’s letter about the off-campus house that

has no formal Greek life ties. UC Interim President Beverly Davenport released a statement that showed top-down condemnation and zero tolerance for such retrograde sentiment. “I applaud our Student Government’s statement today and stand with them and our entire community in deploring the despicable banner that was displayed near campus earlier this week,” said Davenport in a statement issued Friday night. “Please be assured we have taken every measure within our purview to investigate and deal with this incident.” We stand in unison with all parties that condemn this misogynistic, grossly sexual and unacceptable banner. The banner’s phrasing, especially the use of “your daughter,” is a paternalistic notion that not only reduces a woman to merely an offspring but is also threatening. The inalienable right of free speech does exist and the off-campus house owned by JPH Property Investments certainly has a right to spew the vile nonsense they wrote on the banner as private citizens. But it’s incumbent upon us as a united community to stand against this type of flippant, poorly worded and woman-hating message. Any misogyny seen must be reported, condemned and fought against. This culture of degradation cannot continue, and we have to the ones who lead the charge. This is not who we are as a community.

When Lee Dyer, program coordinator at the University of Cincinnati LGBTQ Center, began the gender transitioning process back when he was a member of the Sigma Gamma Roh sorority at Dillard University, his sisters became his guardians. “When someone who didn’t know me didn’t know the pronoun change or what not in the early stage of transitioning, they were the first ones to be like ‘excuse me, it’s he, and get it together,’” said Dyer. Fusing his experiences in Greek life with the process of transitioning from female to male drew curiosity from some. “I know for me, transitioning from female to male and being in a sorority, a lot of people are like whoa how did that go? But I would say that my sorority sisters were some of the most loving people,” said Dyer. LGBTQ students involved in Greek life can also look into becoming members of the Rainbow Greek Network. The Rainbow Greek Network is an organization comprised of “members both male and female of LGBT Greek Sororities and Fraternities as well as members of the LGBT community,” according to their Facebook page. “It’s huge — they actually have a regional conclaves and a national picnic every year,” said Dyer. Over the time fourth-year international business student and Greek diversity committee member Kevin Leugers has been a member of Sigma Phi

Epsilon, there has been an increase in efforts towards diversity and inclusion. The committee he sits on was formed this year by interested fraternity and sorority life students with a goal of building diversity and inclusivity into their chapters, according to Leugers. “There’s definitely been, whether it’s in programming, whether it’s in retreats, whether it’s in simply just the chapter discussions that we have, just a stronger focus on the words and verbiage that we use to be more inclusive,” said Luegers. Additionally, Sigma Phi Epsilon instituted a program for incoming members where they will be educated on the LGBTQ Center amongst other campus institutions. UC Greek life will even be partnering with the LGBTQ Center this upcoming semester, according to Jeremy Morall, a fifth-year marketing student and president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Though the relationship between UC Greek life and the LGBTQ community is strong, there’s room for

improvement, according to Morall. “I think the conversation of how they include different types of people has actually started to happen in the past couple of years,” said Morall. “We’re trying to work towards being more diverse with this upcoming recruitment.” For IFC fraternities, which are part of the North-American Interfraternity Conference, it’s a mutual selection process, according to Morall. Once the fraternity is able to get to know a potential recruit, many chapters vote on a committee of members or as a whole chapter to select which members they will welcome into the organization. Nationally, there’s been a large movement towards allowing an individual to join a fraternity or sorority organization based on their gender-identity, according to Morall. With their eye on new recruitment strategies for the future, the question remains to what degree LGBTQ students are currently represented in UC Greek life. “I can’t speak to every different identity, but I know that there is a presence and it’s noted in the fact that a lot of people are open to sharing that,” said Luegers. When discussing matters of gender identity and sexual orientation in Greek life, Dyer said one notion overrides the rest. “The biggest thing I could say to the Greek life community as far as being LGBTQ is regardless of a person’s identity, they’re still your brother, they’re still your sister. They took the oath, they went through the process,” said Dyer. “You just continue to love them.”

N.C. BROWN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Lee Dyer, program coordinator for the LGBTQ Center, speaks on the relationship between the trans community and Greek life, Friday August 26, 2016 at the LGBTQ Center.

Stanford enacts new ‘liquor ban’ ASHLEIGH PIERCE | CHIEF REPORTER

PROVIDED BY MCT

After Stanford University enacted a ban on liquor last week for all undergraduate on-campus parties, including those at fraternities, University of Cincinnati students are weighing in. Administrators at Stanford hope the ban will help decrease binge drinking among students and reduce the number of sexual assaults on campus. Stanford’s new ban defines hard liquor as

having at least 20 percent alcohol by volume. Students age 21 and older may still posses liquor under 40 proof so long as it is in a container of 750 milliliters or less. There are no regulations on beer and wine. Other schools have imposed similar bans, including Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia, both of which made their policy changes following high-profile sexual assault allegations, according to NPR.

Having only been in effect for a year, a spokesperson for Dartmouth said the college has not collected enough data to show the ban’s effectiveness. In a March survey conducted by The Dartmouth, Dartmouth’s student newspaper, 85 percent of students reported having consumed hard liquor after the ban took effect. “Banning substances doesn’t stop people from consuming them, but instead drives people to

THE STUDENT VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

do it in secret,” said Jackie Mulay, UC SG Speaker of Senate and fourth-year UC journalism student. “When institutions make policies that attack the symptoms of the issue of sexual assault instead of the center, they indirectly contribute to an environment that supports victim-blaming and rape culture.” Some students involved in UC Greek organizations noted the possession and consumption of liquor SEE STANFORD PG 2

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