life discuss transgender policy

soon.

An outcry for LGBT inclusion was rekindled nationwide when a transgender male at Northwestern University sought admission to a sorority on campus. Firstyear Adam Davies went through recruitment for sororities earlier this year because of the “potential for harm” living with all males in a fraternity house, he told reporters at Daily Mail.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Davies did not receive a return bid and was told that he did not meet the eligibility requirements, which request that individuals recruit for organizations that reflect their identity in the gender binary.

This policy is within the right of each fraternity and sorority because Title IX exempts social fraternities and sororities from the mandatory inclusion of transgender people.

“We as the women of the Panhellenic Council and the men of the Interfraternity Council at Drake say that any person can go through the recruitment process that fits with the person’s own gender identity,” said Kori Ponder, Panhellenic President, in an email interview. “Drake Fraternity and Sorority Life doesn’t discriminate in any way, shape, or form.”

Drake is home to 12 Greek organizations on campus. Of those 12, several have recognized statements from national headquarters regarding admission of transgender individuals including Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Chapters that do not have a national mandate determine eligibility based on locally supported values, under the full knowledge that their national organizations may rescind a bid.

“If a local chapter issues a bid to someone who then accepts that bid, they identify as transgender and the national organization has not been clear on if that person can actually be accepted or not, it creates a very difficult situation,” said Tony Tyler, Director of Student Engagement, Equity, and Inclusion

The fraternity Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), for example, has hosted transgender students in the past and gives equal consideration to all individuals willing to rush, according to FIJI president and Drake junior Casey Ringhofer.

“We are open-minded and welcoming of all transgender and any of the LGBT community,” Ringhofer said. “In years past, we’ve had members who have associated themselves a (certain) way. That’s not an issue with our local chapter nor with our internationals. One of our main goals as a house is to make sure we have healthy relationships among our brothers. That’s just something we strive (for); to make everyone comfortable.”

Ringhofer said that, for the comfort of the transgender individuals themselves, that selfidentified males should follow the “fraternity route” and selfidentified females the “sorority route.”

Such was not the case for Northwestern student Davies who preferred the title of male, and yet rushed a sorority.

Delta Gamma holds a similar mindset, according to their website, which states that membership is available to

“women and transgender persons who identify themselves as women.”

“The current fraternitysorority system is structured along a gender binary,” Tyler said. “For good or bad, it simply is. Therefore, those folks who identify as gender nonconforming or gender fluid, it creates a very difficult situation for them if they want to be included.”

This situation has not occurred on Drake’s campus, yet Tyler said that should a gender nonconforming individual express interest in joining fraternity and sorority life, there would be further discussion needed to make it work.

Ponder is in the process of developing a group called the Student Haven for Awareness, Diversity, and Equality or SHADE.

“SHADE…(is) for students who identify in the LGBTQIAplus community as well as people of color who have felt like they’ve had a different Greek experience than other students on Drake’s campus,” Ponder said.

More details on the formation of this group will be released

In the meantime, the bidding processes at various sororities and fraternities should rely mainly on alignment of values, not gender conformity, according to Tyler.

“Each organization has certain values they espouse, and that’s what recruitment should be based around,” Tyler said. “... But at the end of the day, if a person lined up all their values but simply didn’t align because they were transgender, that would be highly concerning.”

Tyler said that organizations who commit this act would merit more than just discussion of the selection process.

“One nice thing about being here at Drake University is, I feel, we’re a very open campus community,” Ringhofer said. “I think that’s one thing that helps us flourish, where if anyone is trans or gay or anything; I don’t foresee that as weakness, or an asterisk next to their name at all. I know for myself, I like to see that.”