Daily Collegian - IFC moves slowly on 'straight talks' with LGBTA community

Although LGBTA and greek organizations agreed last semester to educate members about the differences between them, both groups say implementation has been more difficult than expected.

All four councils -- Interfraternity Council (IFC); Panhellenic Council, which governs sororities; National Pan-Hellenic Council, composed of historically black fraternities and sororities; and Multicultural Greek Council -- supported the idea of bringing "straight talks," or presentations by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied (LGBTA) people explaining their lifestyles and the discrimination they face to chapters.

Sara Ryan, president of Allies, a group designed to unite LGBT people and their allies, said the initiative has been implemented in all four councils since the agreements.

Ryan said three of the four councils have met their efforts with enthusiasm, but IFC has not expressed much interest. Ryan said she plans to phone chapters individually to explain the program. "It's not that they're not being inclusive or not trying," she said. "This is very new. We want to make sure to clearly express the project and its goals."

Andy Hackett, IFC president, said progress is slow because the greek community is well known, and many groups try to schedule meetings with them. "It's toward the end of the year, and they have a lot of people who want to do things with them," Hackett said. "Now, it's a matter of convincing chapters of the things that are most important."

Hackett said he plans on stressing the importance of straight talks.

"A lot of what we do is by word of mouth," he said. "We have to explain what the virtues are. Straight talks make the greek community inclusive, and they help to establish safe space for potential members."

Even though most IFC chapters have not signed up to bring straight talks into their fraternities, Theta Chi fraternity, 523 S. Allen St., hosted talks a few months ago.

Cameron Lefevre, former Theta Chi president, said the talks were successful. "It had a great impact," Lefevre said. "People went in, unintentionally, with stereotypes. Every brother came out with stereotypes erased."

Lefevre said the talks are important because they will lead to tolerance. He said every chapter should host them.

"We wrote a letter to IFC encouraging straight talks," he said. "It's very beneficial. Every fraternity, sorority and student organization should experience them."

Even though many chapters in the Panhellenic Council are supportive, Delta Delta Delta sorority was among the first to host the presentation.

Kylie Strussion, Delta Delta Delta social chair, said she also thought the presentation was valuable.

"I think it was eye-opening to know how they are discriminated against," Strussion said of the LGBT presenters. "We compared words used to describe both of our communities, and we found that we had a lot in common."

Strussion said the talks should be extended to every organization.

Mariel Gniewoz, Undergraduate Student Government greek affairs director, said the straight talks will be tailored to every organization who agrees to host them. She said contact people will be asked specific questions to make straight talks chapter-specific.

In addition to the slow progress with the talks, Hackett said a service project, which was originally scheduled for this semester, has been postponed. He said the postponement came because greek and LGBT schedules conflicted, and he is confident it will take place in the fall.