My name is Ethan Pravetz, I’m President of the Boston University Colony of Delta Lambda Phi. We were recently featured in a Daily Free Press article entitled “Lambda Delta Phi colony aims to become frat before year’s end,” by Daily Free Press staff writer Erica Davis.
While we thank Ms. Davis and The Daily Free Press for sharing our story with the BU community, there are a few areas of Ms. Davis’s article that were inaccurate or misrepresentative of our organization.
The name of our organization is Delta Lambda Phi National Social Fraternity. This has been corrected in the article, but I would just like to reiterate for clarity’s sake. The term “Fraternity” is used to describe our national organization. Our group at BU, the Boston University Colony, is a segment of this greater, nation-wide group, along with the other Chapters, Colonies, and Interest Groups from around the United States and Canada. Colonies such as ours are Chapters-in-training. Our goal is to become a Chapter of Delta Lambda Phi, which comes with its own rights and privileges. The title of the article suggested that we intend to become our own, separate organization, which is not the case.
Lastly, I’d like to explain our Hands-Off Policy (HOP) in greater detail, as the article does not illustrate how seriously we take this part of our organization or what the policy actually means. What we call the HOP is really the Fraternity’s sexual harassment policy. It basically states that members at different levels of involvement in the fraternity (Rushees/Pledges versus Colonists versus Brothers/Alumni) should not be romantically or physically involved with members at a higher or lower level. This policy is in place to prevent sexual harassment, conflicts of interest, issues, regarding power or coercion, and basically all the different flavors of drama that can arise from these types of entanglements. While Delta Lambda Phi does not discourage any healthy romantic relationships that may develop, our intention is to create lifelong bonds of brotherhood through social, service and recreational activities, not to find boyfriends.
I hope that this better explains what our organization is and what we stand for. To reiterate, all of us at the BU Colony sincerely thank Ms. Davis for her willingness to listen to and record our story, as well as the staff at The Daily Free Press for publishing it. We look forward to a spectacular Spring Rush and hope that you will continue to support Delta Lambda Phi, Greek Life and the LGBT community at BU.
Sincerely,
Ethan Pravetz
President, BU Colony of Delta Lambda Phi
SED/CAS ‘12
ethetz@bu.edu
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