To the Dartmouth Community,

 

Alpha Xi Delta sorority stands in solidarity with survivors of violence. As such, we have cancelled social events for Friday, April 6^th in order to reflect on and discuss how our house can support survivors, prevent violence, and make the Dartmouth community safer for all of its members.

 

By voicing our solidarity with the Week of Action and Take Back the Night March, we want to recognize the struggle of all survivors, including those within our own house, and the ways in which the Greek system has contributed to the harm that occurs on this campus. While many of our members have found a meaningful community in Greek life, we realize that perpetrators of sexual violence, regardless of their affiliations, have undeniably abused the social platform that Greek life provides. The 2017 Sexual Misconduct Survey found that 32 percent of all respondents, and 34 percent of undergraduate women, who have experienced sexual assault met their perpetrator at a party.¹

 

This is not to say that violence is only experienced in Greek spaces. It is not. Rather, as members of the Greek system, we find it important to acknowledge the harm that occurs and is often allowed to occur in these spaces.

 

As we take Friday to recognize survivors and discuss the issue of sexual assault at Dartmouth, we hope others will critically reflect as well. This issue is not going to be fixed after a single night of discussion. It requires ongoing dialogue, reflection, and action to change culture on campus.

 

Best wishes,

The sisters of Alpha Xi Delta

 

[1] “For assaults of undergraduate women, the relationship to the assailant is frequently described as someone they met at a party (34%), a friend (27%) or classmate (24%). These categories are overlapping (non-exclusive) since a single assailant could be more than one of these designations (See Table 2).” http://www.dartmouth.edu/~oir/2017_sms_executive_summary.pdf