Letters
Dear Gus:
First, as a 1970 graduate of Colgate and a proud member of the Delta Gamma Chapter of ATO, I want to express my sincere appreciation to you, Ed, Andy and Phil for the incredible amount of time, intelligence and energy you have expended on behalf of all of us. (I hope you will pass along my gratitude and thoughts, which appear below, to Ed, Andy and Phil and all your colleagues who are working so hard to fashion a mutually-beneficial resolution designed to preserve the POSITIVE aspects of a university AND A FRATERNITY which were so instrumental in providing the foundation for my personal and professional success in later life, and about which I care so much.)
In short, I would prefer option # 2 (the "wait and see" approach) because, while I am not necessarily opposed to an arms-length transaction with the University in which the fraternity house would be acquired, I frankly do not trust the current University Administration and believe that the acquisition would be a guise for and major step in the University abolishing both ATO and the entire fraternity/sorority system at Colgate.
I am not suggesting that "Greek Life" today is similar to that which existed in the late 60's (which is not necessarily a good or bad thing), nor am I particularly proud of the way in which many (though clearly not all) of the ATO brothers comported themselves during the past decade, but just as an overwhelmingly Greek system is flawed, so too would a college campus without any Greek system be. One thing that appears to remain disturbingly true about Colgate's Administration and Faculty is that they live in an isolated environment in an idyllic upstate New York community and really are NOT in touch with the many REAL LIFE challenges that its students and alumni face when they leave the four corners (or should I say four traffic lights) of Hamilton, New York. They need to come off their lofty, self-impressed and self-serving perches and recognize that decisions such as whether to join or not join a fraternity/sorority, or how to deal with the perceived elation or disappointment of being selected for a fraternity/sorority, or most importantly, how to act maturely and responsibly -- financially and socially -- in a community, whether Greek or not, is just as important (and, in some respects, more important) than all the book knowledge conveyed in the classroom.
My hope is fairly straight-forward: I want to see Colgate continue to strive to be "THE BEST THAT IT CAN BE," but I also want it to show the institutional and administrative flexibility to give its students a diversity of choices -- INCLUDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE IN AND ACT RESPONSIBLY AS PART OF A GREEK SYSTEM!
Perhaps what grieves me most, as a Colgate alum, is that the rampant intellectual and moral dishonesty and corruption that pervades our society today (whether in the realm of politics, business, religion -- the list can go on and on) seems to be very much evident on the part of the Colgate Administration. It is time for their disingenuousness and often downright dishonesty and arrogance of cramming down a solution to STOP. It is time for them to truly give their students -- past, present and future -- a CHOICE! That is what I would vote for and that as an alumnus and human being I pray for!
If you or your colleagues have any questions or if I can be of any assistance in dealing with this critically important matter, I hope you will not hesistate to contact me.
Thank you for listening (and for hopefully sharing my thoughts and gratitude for all you and your colleagues are doing).
Very truly yours,
Erik D. Aschenbrenner
Managing Director
The Response Companies
Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Services Division
23 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-843-7462
Fax: 212-843-9152
Email: easchenbrenner@responseco.com