Last week, Penn State’s chapter of Kappa Delta Rho fraternity generated well-deserved outrage when it emerged that the frat was operating a secret Facebook group containing pictures of nude women who appeared to be passed out and in compromising positions. That page, known as “Covert Business Transactions, also contained details of hazing rituals and drug deals. According to a police affidavit, the original version of the group page was shut down after one of the women depicted on it complained–but a new page, known as “Covert Business Transactions 2.0,” popped up shortly afterward. Both the KDR national organization and the Penn State Interfraternity Council have suspended the chapter, and school officials have vowed that those responsible will be severely punished. A criminal investigation is also well underway. Well, as hard as it may be to believe, this story just got even more debauched. An anonymous member of KDR told Philadelphia magazine that the nude pictures were intended to be satire.
When I first saw Slate report this, I initially thought Slate had gotten pwned. But sadly, it didn’t. Philadelphia magazine reached out to the brother, one of 143 members in the group, after he sent out a statement complaining that the “misplaced self-righteousness” generated by the scandal could potentially “ruin people’s lives and reputations.” The brother said–presumably with a straight face–that the media were making a big fuss over something that was “not a criminal thing,” but simply “an inter-fraternity thing.” He blew it off as merely “a satirical group” that had no malicious intent, and that there were dozens of other sites that had similar–and in some cases, “a lot more explicit”–content. He himself never made any posts or comments.
Excuse me? How is posting pictures of passed-out women merely satire? And how are posting misogynistic comments like “sloots” or “I banged her lol” merely satire? And where was your concern for the lives and reputations of the women in those pics? And if you never posted or commented, why didn’t you or anyone else speak up? Answer those questions, buddy. This is one of those rare cases where a response is at least as bad, if not worse, than the original incident.
KDR national officials have said that they are in the process of conducting a full review and reorganization of the chapter. But after this, it’s pretty obvious that this chapter needs to be disbanded. Regardless of any action the national KDR organization takes, Penn State should not only tear up this fraternity’s charter, but not even consider any requests for reinstatement until the fall of 2019 at the earliest. Simply put, the culture in that house is unacceptable, and there is no place on any civilized campus for it. Period.
