147 Comments
No vacancy.
Here are the winners of the brownstones formerly known as AEPi, Pike, and PsiU:
While this is great news for these three organizations—having been without a house for so long—it comes as a blow to AEPi and Pike as they were trying to earn their houses back. Dean Shollenberger told Bwog that he had purposefully kept the houses open for the last two school years to allow those frats the opportunity to reevaluate their purpose and thus re-earn their spots. Despite strides in community engagement, apparently this did not happen.
Update, 1:22 pm: Shollenberger sent out an email confirming the above groups.
N.B. KevSho wrote, “After reviewing the application materials and considering the recommendations of the committee, I have made a final decision.” This language suggests that he may not have followed the recommendations of the Brownstone Review Committee. We’ve reached out to him for comment.
The dean’s full email:
Dear Students,
Over the past six months, the Brownstone Review Committee has been charged with the difficult task of reviewing 13 applications for three vacant brownstones on West 114th Street. Each application received careful consideration, and a recommendation for each brownstone was made after much dialogue.
After reviewing the application materials and considering the recommendations of the committee, I have made a final decision. I am pleased to inform you that I have offered housing contracts to the following three student organizations to reside in the University brownstones for the upcoming academic year: Alpha Chi Omega, Lambda Phi Epsilon, and Q House.
I want to thank all of the student organizations who opted to participate in this housing application process. The review and selection process for these brownstones was a difficult task, but it has allowed us to think more about how we can meet the needs of our residential community through a variety of housing options. Concurrent to this Brownstone Review Process, we have also been exploring options for Special Interest Communities for the new brownstone property located at 619-623 West 113th Street, formerly known as “the Convent.” Over the past several months, we have solicited much feedback from the community on how we should best utilize this space.
I highly encourage interested student organizations to explore the special interest housing options that will be available on 113th Street, as well as other campus space that may become available from groups relocating to the 114th Street brownstones. Additional information regarding the 113th Street brownstone and the Special Interest Community application process will be available in the next few weeks.
Lastly, I would like to thank all the students and staff members who served on the Brownstone Review Committee. Your commitment to making this an open and fair process for all involved is much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Dean Shollenberger
Houses via DNAinfo
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147 Comments
@Reggie J The important thing to note, in the end, is that brotherhood and camaraderie are more important and immortal than a house. Great efforts from all groups, though
@Hello @Reggie J: Keep telling yourself that…
@Van Owen At least Barnard didn’t get one of the brownstones.
@Hello @Van Owen: Thank god!! Any of them..
http://www.theonion.com/articles/no-one-murdered-because-of-this-image,29553/
@Trollogram @Correction: No way. I’ve listened to “Volare” and “That’s Amore” over a THOUSAND times and you can’t POSSIBLY expect me to believe that Dean Martinez is a woman.
@Who cares? Personally, I’ve been to a frat probably 10 times during my four years at Columbia. I don’t event know their names so I can’t tell them apart. I’ve never thought of the Greek organizations as part of my social life.
Is it really such a big deal that ONE building went to a non Greek organization? At the very least it doesn’t matter enough to justify the rapid homophobia going on here. You would think this was Old Miss from reading this shit.
This just makes the fraternities look like they’re full of the worst stereotypes of frat boys.
@I care. The point is not that the brownstones didn’t go 3/3 greek. The point is that there was a heavy implication that if the fraternities (who each had a single member, working WITHOUT knowledge of their organization) reformed, they would be given “their” houses back. Anyone who could have known has graduated. Pike raised over $10k for charity last year. AEPi collectively had thousands of hours of community service. While AEPi and Pike had 5-star status, the highest ranking possible under the new ALPHA “Standards,” AXO only had 4. Ask yourself: under a purely objective system, which the ALPHA system was meant to create, why did a 4 star organization receive a house while a 5-star did not? If the answer is “Operation Ivy League,” give your head a shake. It is unfairly putative punitive, especially when 1 student arrested lived in EC, and 1 student lived in the IRC. Neither the EC student’s suitemates, nor the IRC, received any sanctions. When this is on the table, it makes sense. Columbia wants IFC life off campus.
@anon Are you implying that the only reason Pike and AEPi worked for charity was to get their houses back, and that because they didn’t all that money and time was a waste? Shouldn’t these frats, if they’re such a great part of the community, want to participate in philanthropy just for the community’s sake?
@? And what “community” might that be, Mr. Martinez? You’re too used to people regurgitating whatever community narrative you pour into the Kool-Aid. Don’t tell me you’re starting to believe your own bullshit. Settle down, collect your paycheck. Wipe that feigned look of shock and horror off your face and welcome to TEH INTERWEBZ.
@Correction Dean Martinez is a woman
@anon don’t understand why some people think aepi and pike deserved the house by default. so they jumped through a bunch of hoops – so did every other organization that applied.
@Queer-Identified @BC Amongst our generation, the term “queer” is generally accepted if used as an adjective (but not a noun!) as long as the tone is not one of insult. However, there are many people, particularly older LGBTQA individuals, who object to the use of the term because of the connotations it can carry if it has been linked to negative personal experiences.
How not to use it: “Man, he’s such a queer!”
How to use it: “I would like to find out more about queer life on campus!”
@Queer-Identified @BC @Queer-Identified @BC:
Sorry, this was a response to @confused cis-straight-white-male:
@Anonymous Bwog: telling you what you already know.
@Dean Martinez I have never been more disappointed in Columbia students as I am right now. Bwog, please do tell me how anonymous postings contribute to discourse in our community? Hatred, not free speech, hides behind anonymity. Shameful. Apologies to the queer and fraternal communities. Neither group deserves this filth.
@shrinking violet I’d apologize to the queer community, but I didn’t start this shit and have said nothing against them. I’d apologize to the fraternity community but I don’t stand for blatant homophobia or people who say, ” those brownstones belong to us” the fucking arrogance.
@Anonymous @shrinking violet:
The implication that frats are homophobic as a community is really just lazy. There are plenty of homosexual Greeks, and plenty of frats that accept and encourage them.
@costanza.jpeg >only discourse I agree with is good discourse
>typical liberal administration logic.
@confused cis-straight-white-male Is queer sufficiently reappropriated that I can say it without it being inherently aggressive? Or is it one of those words that’s confined to proper nouns, like Colored in NAACP, which you can sort of say in a very academic context but not casually?
@cis-straight-black-male ally As a black person, I would imagine it’s quite a bit like calling someone black (a term which used to be considered derogatory). It’s not that saying black is offensive in and of itself. It’s using it in a disparaging or mocking way that is offense like ugh did in their comment “of course they gave one to the queers.” Like my mother used to say, “It’s not what you say it’s how you say it.” i know this can be a frustrating distinction, but I promise, having your identity used as an insult is pretty frustration (and potentially terrifying) too.
@Kev$ho AEPI and PIKE both demonstrated that they were capable of rebuilding their reputations. What Columbia once again proved is that they are against social life by omitting the 2 most open fraternities on campus. In my freshman and sophomore the best parties on frat row were unquestionably held at the AEPI and Pike houses . Delta Sig and Sig Ep close off their events to a a bunch of “hot freshman chicks”, and the athletic frats aren’t very open outside of their communities.
What will AchiO bring to social life at Columbia? absolutely nothing, as sororities cannot hold events.
With Lambda it is hard to argue against their social value, but they are notoriously known for their hazing practices.
And with Q-House while I respect the attempts from the administration to find a true safe space for LGBTs on campus, why didn’t the administration give them a floor in the newly purchased brownstone on 113th for them? With a brownstone comes the responsibility of oversight that only Greek groups have built into their entities.
This is a sad day for Columbia Greek and Party life.
Unapologetically,
Kev$ho
@sorority Actually, sororities can host events! Not all events are wild drunken parties you know. Dry, philanthropy/education related events are positive contributions to our Columbia community that a sorority CAN host in their brownstone!
@Kev$ho touché. but my point is that there is a notable lack of “fun” that occurs on our campus, and Columbians are constantly complaining about this many weekend.
2 big, traditional Fraternities would have provided 2 more social outlets for students here.
We are the #1 most stressful school in the country correct? We could change that, but the administration is anti-fun.
Not nagging on sororities in any sense, but what benefit will the addition of achio’s brownstone bring to Columbia’s reputation as an antisocial, work hard, play very little campus?
@anon what benefit will the addition of achio’s brownstone bring to Columbia’s reputation as an antisocial, work hard, play very little campus?
more than the drug bust did
@greek alum @Kev$ho: Throwing parties isn’t and shouldn’t be the main contribution of any greek org. I’d reckon even the members of aepi and pike would agree with that sentiment.
also, if you’re having difficulty finding parties and fun stuff to do in NYC, you’re doing something wrong.
@Anonymous Q-house isn’t queer-only; it welcomes allies.
@Also You It’s as if Bwog comments are written by different people with varying opinions. I just thought it was the same person with a hundred different accounts.
@suck it, pdpsi
@shrinking violet I will just point out that this is why frats are not good for the general community. out of 3 brownstones, 1 goes to a non-greek house and well, bwog: welcome to rampant homophobia. i wonder why people dislike frats? I don’t know, such a difficult question…..
@Anonymous Lambda is not an IFC Fraternity…
@Voie I don’t understand why so many people are hating on Lambda Phi Epsilon. They contribute so much to the campus, not only to the Asian community but to many other organizations as well. They are so involved to create a POSITIVE reputation. If you actually got to know the guys, maybe you would realize that they’re not the stereotypical “frat” (brothers actually prefer you to use the word “fraternity”) boys. They had many other organizations support them because of the work they do. They deserve their brownstone and it’s a shame that you can’t see why they’re qualified.
@Greek student I’m pretty amazed at these comments. I was all for AEPi and Pike to get their houses back, but this public display of homophobia definitely won’t help their cause (if it IS them making these comments), or that of other frats and sororities in the future. Shit like this is why the larger community at Columbia stereotypes us, and this kind of a reaction just makes the entire Greek community look bad.
@anon AEPi has openly gay members, so I think it is unfair to assume they are the source of these ugly comments…
@Greek student Fair enough, but for the most part, if a neutral party viewed these comments, it’s easy to confuse “people upset that Pike/AEPi didn’t get their houses back” with “people upset that Q House got one, and are now making homophobic comments.” No one from either Pike or AEPi has made a comment yet saying that they don’t condone the bigoted statements seen above, even if those people supported their efforts to reclaim their houses. It wouldn’t hurt, at least.
@CC '13 right but aepi isn’t one monolithic body. each member (gay or not) is capable of acting individually. SO, while “they” are probably not the source of these comments — I highly doubt all aepi bros are in a room right now responding collectively — individual members of aepi may be.
@"AEPi has openly gay members" Yup, I know. At one of the last AEPi parties, the guy who asked me why I “always have to be so gay” – was gay. In fact, that night was when I found out that *being* gay does not prevent you from being an (auto)homophobic jerk.
@LGBTeetotaler I WILL DRINK ALL OF THE MIXERS
@Anonymous This is a disgrace to the community. So long as we attempt to rectify history by favoring minority groups and opposing anything white/male/heterosexual we will continue to foster an environment of inequity. I am in a nondiscriminatory organization that has gays and minorities in it and accepts them without a problem. Why the hell do there have to be certain gay-only and minority-only groups that do nothing other than retard the integration of all people, regardless of race or sexuality?
@LGBT-identified BC student Because people such as yourself insist on using “gay” as a noun instead of an adjective. :-(
@LGBT-identified BC student noun
10.
a homosexual person, especially a male.
look!Gay can be used as a noun! Grammar is the battle you choose to fight? You live in New York City and need a brownstone to feel accepted?
@LGBT-identified BC student I don’t particularly care whether some arbitrary source regards the use of “gay” as a noun as correct. I do care that it’s acceptable for people who claim to be welcoming to LGBTQ folks to refer to them as “gays.” I’m not going to call heterosexual people “straights.” That’s just not nice. It’s similarly insensitive to refer to LGBT-identified people (who–gasp!–may not actually be “gay”) as “gays.” And why is the “battle” of grammar mutually exclusive with other LGBT-oriented goals? It seems to me that insensitive language use is a symptom of larger problems.
@LGBT-identified BC student u mad?
@brobro Yes, by only using the adjectival form of “gay” and “straight,” like a TRULY politically correct individual, you are rightly implying it is a condition which can be changed. Using the noun forms of “gays” and “straights” is insensitive to the numerous success stories of those successfully converted using painful therapy.
/s
@CC '13 A few things…
1. If awarding Q House a brownstone = favoring a minority group, then awarding AEPi/Pike a brownstone = favoring a majority group, no?
2. You’re (conveniently) a member of that majority group, no?
3. If Q House and IRC (for the sake of argument) are gay-only and minority-only groups respectively, then nearly half of all student groups on-campus can be said to be “majority-groups,” regardless of whether or not said groups are in principle open to minorities/gays, no?
4. AEPi/Pike are hardly the diverse, integrated groups that you imagine them to be.
5. Self-segregation is a myth.
@Anonymous Go to the AEPi website and take a look at the current brothers. It’s a pretty diverse group.
@lol gotta love the trolls. lol
@Lol ..well that isn’t obvious at all
@lol stop impersonating me
@It's never been about a 'safe space' It’s always been about a bigger place to engage in sick activities.
@Greek Life In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
@shrinking violet Please, I beg you in the name of God, do not ruin my favorite poem by wasting it on the useless, self-indulgent nonsense that is greek life.
@Agreed Why don’t these jackals jump on the Tennyson bandwagon? Here guys, I’ll help…”COME MY BROS, ‘TIS NOT TOO LATE TO SEEK A BETTER WORLD…”
@Anonymous I definitely think Q house should get a brownstone, but wouldn’t it make more sense to give them one of the 113th convent ones? I mean, right in the middle of frat row doesn’t seem like the most logical place, if we are talking about a “safe space.”
@Greek Life There is no more frat row.
@?? Are you kidding me? The people in fraternities are your peers. We run the student groups you’re in, we’re in classes with you, we are on your athletic teams, we’re sitting in Butler next to you doing homework. We are not any more likely to discriminate against people of certain sexual orientations than other members/organizations in the Columbia community. We are Columbians, too, and we believe in the same principles of non-discrimination as the rest of you.
@Anonymous Hey hey wait up, I completely agree!!! You misunderstand my point – I’m actually in greek life. My point is (and I don’t mean to generalize), but I think a lot of non-greek people seem to think that fraternities and sororities are not safe spaces. Also, I completely understand the need for an LGBTQ safe-space when if individuals are feeling marginalized or discriminated against (even though I don’t think this happens in the greek organizations I’m familiar with here).
@Unhappy The Jewish students on campus might be more in need of a safe place on campus then the Q-house is. Joseph Massad teaches classes, Ahmadinejad is invited to speak, but AEPi can’t have a house….
@CC '11 …I think this comment is a serious disservice to the Kraft Center. Almost every Jewish student I know will acknowledge that the Columbia/Barnard Jewish community is an amazingly strong and comfortable one, in no small part thanks to Kraft.
@Unhappy I agree that the Kraft Center and Robert Kraft are great. However, I think a large portion of Jewish students at Columbia, particularly those who consider themselves more culturally Jewish and less religiously so, find the AEPi house to be an important part of on-campus life.
Additionally AEPi is very actively involved in community service and contributes to the general good humor of the campus.
@Anonymous What about Catholics? Your people run the school, make up a majority of caucasians on campus, have multiple organizations and safehouses, and you still need a brownstone for a Jewish-themed frat?
@Unhappy …comment’s like that are why Jew’s need their own house. I suppose you think Jews run the world too…
@Double standard? @ unhappy
Of course we should always point out that a disproportionate number of institutions in this country are run by white males. They should constantly be reminded that their success comes only as a result of White Privilege and Male Privilege. But pointing out that a disproportionate number of those white males are Jewish is completely unacceptable. Only a Nazi thinks that way.
@Hello But the jews are everywhere! There are more Jews at columbia then rats…
http://www.theonion.com/video/overcome-stress-by-visualizing-it-as-a-greedy-hook,17828/
@Anonymous kraft house is good if you’re religious. But I feel as if I don’t belong there because I am not.
@Zachary The kraft center is an excellent place for jews and welcomes all, including those who are both observant and unobservant. If you would ever be interested in going to hillel and want to go with someone to make you feel more comfortable feel free to email me my uni is zn2116
@Anon The problem is there is a huge divide between the religious and nonreligious jews that is not properly addressed since the entire organization is run by the religious ones.
@MJ @anon
It’s a myth! the current religious life coordinator on the e-board, for example, was formerly the president of the Reform group!
I am secular/culturally Jewish and I was on e-board last year as well. We even have group leaders that aren’t Jewish at all.
Please take Zachary up on his offer if you want to get more involved! Hillel has been one of the defining positive experiences of my Columbia experience. It would be a shame to miss out because of a misconception.
@Mr. Intolerance You have a “safe space:” it’s called “New York City.”
@Anonymous +1 <3
@Anonymous Leave the wealthier parts of Manhattan.
@Called it. http://bwog.com/2012/02/20/decide-who-gets-the-brownstones/#comment-343259
As long as Q House has to follow the same rules as the Fraternity and Sorority brownstones for hosting social events in their house, should they choose to do so, fine. Noise control, walk-throughs, alcohol and drug policy, etc. should be clearly addressed- they should even have to register those events with Columbia, in my opinion. The 114th Brownstones are great social spaces with obvious utility for partying, so if Fraternities and Sororities aren’t allowed to have a free for all (anymore), neither should SIC’s. It’s a pain, but fair is fair!
With a community as big and diverse as LGBT, there’s going to be a challenge of control. Suddenly, a bunch of people who never did anything for the community are going to show up now that there’s this cool space that they “own” by merit of their sexuality. That’s good because it attracts people, but there needs to be a disciplined group of people in the house that can prevent a random person from ruining the experience for everybody. Don’t underestimate how exposed you are on 114th St., as opposed to Ruggles 2!
-Experienced Brownstoner
@It's really not bliss “a bunch of people who never did anything for the community are going to show up now that there’s this cool space that they “own” by merit of their sexuality.”
God you are so ignorant.
@Same dude @It’s really not bliss:
You really think that a refurbished 4-5 story Brownstone with a party basement will only attract people who have shown up for events at the tiny Ruggles suite? That nobody in the LGBT community, especially the undergraduates, would try to take advantage of the space as a purely social one, without contributing? Some people don’t care about the issues and literally just want to drink/hang out, which is fine in and of itself. Those people, however, can bring a whole set of problems when given an inch. We all have gay friends and it’s clear that they’re just like the general human population. Some are great, some are really shitty. My post was more of a warning to be wary of the shitty ones, so they don’t ruin this new positive opportunity. I don’t see how that’s ignorant (which I guess is the definition of ignorance), especially considering that I’ve lived in a Fraternity Brownstone for the past 2 and half years and have seen what can go wrong.
@brobro All gays are socially conscious, fun-loving but mild mannered people. They can all also sing beautifully. And dance. And they all dress well. They’re basically just copies of NPH running around the world making it a happier place like fairy godmothers. To think otherwise is ignorant homophobia.
@It's really not bliss Oh please excuse me!
I COMPLETELY misread your statement, as it’s wording was a tad bit confusing. I thought that you were generalizing that the people of Q House, who won the brownstone, were the people who you were characterizing as having never done anything for the community and feel that they own it by merit of their sexuality. The statement, interpreted that way, seems pretty ignorant.
But now that you clarified, I agree, they’ll definitely face all the challenges that other brownstone owners face and should definitely be held accountable just like all the other groups, which I’m sure they will be.
So we’re actually in agreement. Glad we cleared that up =)
Yours,
Bliss
@RR SNAP OUT OF IT, BWOG COMMENTER, YOU’RE BEING POLITE FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!!!!!
@Quote from Shollenberger's brownstone e-mail “A Brownstone Review Committee was assembled with student and staff representation. Recommendations from the committee will factor into my final decision on space allocation.”
In other words, while the committee possibly voted in favor of AEPi/Pike (a reasonable guess considering they put them on the short list – each had a 50% chance), he always had the final say as to who got them.
@CC '11 Smart money says Lambda loses their house within 5 years due to hazing anyways…
@Anonymous Seriously. No one hazes like the asian frats.
@Wow.... Lamdas.. Nuff said
@Anonymous There’s a house for the gays now? Bye bye Grindr.
@The Ban Captain thepoet Here comes the butthurt train!
@lol bro dont make me swing on you
@The Ban Captain thepoet Please I could take you with my fingers beta-scrub
@10 bucks says Pike and AEPi get other brownstones from other frats that don’t meet alpha standards within the next 5 years anyway.
@BC 2013 When the finalists were announced, Bwog commenters were all “WE HATE GREEK LIFE BOO PIKE.” Now that Pike and AEPi didn’t get it, Bwog commenters are all mad. I THINK YOU GUYS JUST DON’T LIKE BEING HAPPY.
@BC '69 I downvoted your humorous yet cuttingly insightful comment just because of your status as a Barnard student. This is bwog, is it not?
@Congrats To Q House! You all deserve it!
@Anonymous Check your grammar – “don’t think this wasn’t the most ideal outcome”?
@gotta say ** this was —
my bad, was in the middle of writing the sentence then went back and rephrased it. sorry i don’t proofread on bwog but thanks for the catch
@gotta say check your attitudes, they aren’t getting you houses. be happy for the others — there were a limited amount of brownstones. each group needed/deserved one to some degree, it was just which groups needed one most. i personally don’t think this wasn’t the most ideal outcome, but am happy for all.
@Anonymous This is the everybody-gets-trophy mentality that is wrong with America today. Go back to your quiet suburb and shut the hell up.
@The Dark Hand we at speςsuςks are outraged that we were not selected. our midnight rituals may have to include a burning of a Shollenberger voodoo doll wrapped in spec from now on
@Anonymous LONG LIVE PIKE
@Bad decision And putting a group of gay students in the middle of frat row will provide “an environment in which they don’t feel judged?” Talk about a bad idea!
@CC '13 lol. you seem to be suggesting that ALL frat bros are homophobic (or at least unaccommodating of gays)… that would weaken your past argument that aepi and pike (also composed of frat bros) deserve a brownstone and are “a credit to the campus.”
@Disgusted You must be completely ignorant to even think that. It’s kind of mind-blowing that you would even make that statement. This is the prime example of people being completely unfair and uninformed about fraternities. They are some of the most open minded people I know.
@wow... This is very upsetting. Poor pike. They have proven they deserve their house back already… why make them suffer? Had some of my best times at that house as a freshmen. Sad it will never be the same.
@Anonymous The fact that you had a good time there freshman year makes me question your belief they still deserve a house.
Don’t want to jump to conclusions. but still.
@You're a judgemental prick See above.
@Fan of AEPi Why pretend AEPi and Pike had a chance Shollenberger? AEPi could not have done more to distance themselves from the mistakes of one troubled past member or to prove they were community-service minded and a credit to the campus. Their officers were led to believe this would be a fair process. What a joke!
@Um clearly They had a chance, they just didn’t win. These groups are just as deserving and probably had really solid presentations.
@Anonymous It’s all relative my friend. Just because they improved doesn’t mean they were the best. It would actually be more unfair if they received the brownstones simply because they improved, while other groups who have deserved a brownstone for years, worked hard for one, and likely had a better presentation did not get one.
@gotta say just b/c aepi didn’t win doesn’t mean it was unfair.
@CC '13 “Having failed to achieve a desired goal, people may use retroactive pessimism as a defense mechanism, concluding that chances of success were not too good to begin with. To make this judgment, one must block counterfactual alternatives suggesting that success was, in fact, quite likely. Facing a bitter disappointment, the perceiver is highly motivated to inhibit upward counterfactuals, thus increasing the perceived inevitability of failure and finding solace in the acceptance of inescapable fate.”
@CC '13 Also this: “Retroactive pessimism involves retrospectively lowering one’s evaluations of a group’s chances for success after a failed competition.”
@WEIRD And by ‘people’ the study’s authors mean any sample of individuals that is sufficiently represented by ~100 Israeli college students with a heavily slanted sex ratio. Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic.
@J.T. SO glad someone appreciates the impact of WEIRD samples on scientific (and specifically psychological) study
@Kev$ho You’re absolutely right. AEPI and PIKE did a shit ton to get their act together. They were the only 2 IFC frats that got 5 star ratings last year.
The reality is that this would have been really bad PR for Columbia if AEPI and PIKE had gotten houses. It was misleading to even include them in this process. While I think they deserve their houses back, and I truly wanted them to have their houses back based on the parties I went to my freshman year, I think they never had a chance based on Terry Martinez and Kevin Schollenberger’s experiences after Operation Ivy League.
Also the War on Fun continues. and Columbia is happy about it. Fuck that.
@disappointed... PIKE has been working SO hard for their house back. the bad decisions of a couple members should not be the reason they are penalized and lose their house FOREVER.
@CC '13 quit being so dramatic
@Anony I don’t understand why people would want to associate with a frat that got busted as a drug ring? How do new freshmen every year join? Don’t they care about their future?
@Anonymous Maybe because those three frats are defined by more than the actions of single members two years ago, and have done a lot to distance themselves from those people and that kind of activity, and that any current members were at most freshmen or sophomores when it happened and were uninvolved?And I don’t get what you’re saying about their futures. I’ve never heard of anyone getting rejected from a job for something a member of their organization did BEFORE they joined.
@dude This altoid is amaaaaaaazing!
@CC 13 While I think it is obvious that Postcrypt and ADi should have been awarded houses, this is one of the better possible outcomes. By which I mean no Op Ivy League frats.
@WTF this fucking SUCKS
@Regular Student I am happy with this outcome.
@Anonymous Good outcome. New frats and sororities should be given the chance to have a Brownstone, and Q House is more than deserving of one.
@pissed shits fucked up.
long like aepi/pike.
@ugh of course they gave one to the queers
@anonymous People like you are exactly why they need separate housing. So, they can live in an environment in which they don’t feel judged.
@Curious I don’t know that criticizing his homophobia entails the separate housing you think it does.
@Anonymous Is it really homophobic to call queer house queer? I used to think that term was offensive, but if all these organizations use it in their titles then it must be appropriate, right?
@Well you bring up an interesting point. It’s not so much the word “queer” was used, it was the WAY it was used. If BSO put out a request for a brownstone and someone said “of course they gave one to the blacks,” it would be just as inappropriate. “to the queers,” “to the blacks,” “to the Jews”—there’s no more dehumanizing way to refer to a group of people than like that.
@Anonymous I’m sorry, but why do the gays need separate housing again? This makes no sense. I am sick and tired of bowing and kowtowing to groups that I find whiny and furthermore immoral. We all know Qhouse will turn into a den of iniquity. I don’t care what propoganda Columbia and the rest of these Upper West Side lunatics throw at us, homosexuality is wrong. Period. End of story. These people have a psychological illness. Think about it. From an evolutionary standpoint it makes no sense. Being gay is like being schizophrenic — it’s a mental disorder. The fact that the pc nazis took it off the list of mental illnesses in the 1970s to appease the queens of sensitivity does not change this fact. I’d like one LOGICAL argument advocating that homosexuality is not an aberration. Feelings-based arguments have no place in this discussion as they are just a bunch of malarky. To all you losers (gender studies/ anthropology/whatever other retarded majors majors) that will down vote this… fine. Go ahead BWOG, delete this comment; do what liberals do. When you disagree with something, censor it. Free speech my ass.
@Alex Donnelly People will often criticize the finance industry for their “old boy network”, but one of few promising things they can offer the non-finance world is in how they deal with diversity.
Just as a gay man or woman might make some people uncomfortable, a homophobic man or woman’s views might make other people uncomfortable as well. The policy that I’ve seen in the work place is that when you are faced with conflicting diversity, the more inclusive view has to be supported, because it allows people to work better together. A gay man or woman feeling comfortable in their housing creates a more inclusive environment that someone, such as yourself, denouncing their way of life.
So while I am a strong proponent of free speech, I have to criticize your open-mindedness. You, Anonymous, likely feel very comfortable in your current housing situation, because I believe no one is making rude comments to you. But not everyone is afforded the same liberty as you.This house will be not only a safe space, but also a place for community building; something that I, as a straight man, definitely believe we need more of on campus.
@Anonymous “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.(Leviticus 20:13 KJV)”
@Anonymous Troll score 4/5
Good appearance of legitimacy, superbly inflammatory, but missing that ‘X’ factor to make it a perfect 5.
@anon jackass…
@Anonymous You haven’t defined “aberration,” but I suspect it’s a feeling-based definition. Perhaps you just *feel* that it is immoral or disgusting? If my feeling that homosexuality is acceptable is fine is not important, than neither is your feeling that is it not.
I can show that homosexuality is not a mental disorder because it does not impair functioning. It does not, by itself, make people unhappy. That is my “logic-based” argument.
It would not seem to improve reproductive success. Who cares? That doesn’t make it wrong. Neither does birth control or societally-mandated celibacy. Although, homosexuality has survived in great proportion this long, so the genes behind it must have some advantage, like the genes for sickle-cell anemia do.
And I’m an Econ major, just so you don’t confirmation bias yourself into thinking everyone who disagrees with you is stupid.
@Kristine not that I agree with him, but Economics is the farthest thing from a “cerebral” major.
@Anonymous The fact that this is getting any up votes, not to mention over 30, is absolutely SICKENING.
@lol @Anonymous: I’ve just been logging in and out and upvoting with different ip addresses to piss you all off.
@sadness @Anonymous:
It makes me sad that there is a person denied the opportunity to attend this school because you had to lie and pretend to be a good person on your application.
This kind of attitude I can understand people being offended by. This is what we should be spending our energy protesting.
@uhh... q house is not only accepting of queers, nor are all queers at columbia involved with q house. beyond being incredibly offensive, your comment is factually wrong – this is not giving something “to the queers.”
@Disappointed '14 Bwog comments lately have been making me incredibly sad.
@Anonymous If you take things people write on the Internet seriously, you’re gonna have a bad time.
@lazy college senior 27 up, 127 down, 154 total means 17.5% upvotes.
This comment has a higher approval rating than Congress.