Supporting free expression

A recent story in the Indiana Daily Student brought an interesting issue to our attention. How acceptable is being gay in the greek community?\nLast week, a member of our sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, participated in a panel titled "Being Greek and Being Gay." We think our chapter was misrepresented in Kacie Foster's article ("Gay and greek: Members speak," Oct. 19).\nThe impression left by the IDS coverage of the panel was that members of our house have discriminated against our sister Kathleen Minahan because of her sexual orientation. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, we support Kat in her personal life the way we support all our members. We are proud of the comfortable, welcoming environment we provide for our members.\nAt the heart of this pseudo-controversy was a procedure we are obliged to follow. Yes, it is true Kat was asked not to wear her letters in the panel, but not because our individual chapter is ashamed of her. The rule was imposed by Alpha Gamma Delta International Headquarters. We were simply following a directive by our international headquarters that no collegiate member wear letters when addressing controversial issues. AGD international headquarters said we can't attach our name to any one side of an issue.\nIn retrospect, we regret we did not take the time to interpret the rule. The spirit of this rule should not have applied in Kat's situation.\nWe believe the rule not to wear letters at events was intended to prevent any member from representing the sorority while taking a specific stand on any major external issue. It was not intended to stifle the expression of our members or to restrict their freedom in any way. This type of rule is similar to a newspaper's rule that its reporters not attach the newspaper's name to any issue. We do not object to people knowing Kat is a member of our sorority.\nOur sorority, founded in 1904, is dedicated to excellence, leadership development, high ideals and sisterhood. We are proud to have the opportunity to live up to these standards.\nNothing about Kat's representation violated our values. We believe in the personal freedom of our members. We stand for truth, sincerity and kindness. We applaud Kat for her candor and respect her freedom to express herself.\nMs. Foster's article made it appear as if we do not support Kat. A misunderstanding arose when we did not take sufficient time to delve into the meaning of our sorority's policy. We only regret that it took misrepresentation in a newspaper article to bring about discussion regarding the rule. \nWe support our sister, and we hope Ms. Foster's article creates more discussion in the greek community. Until then, we, the women of Alpha Gamma Delta, can only hope members of the rest of the greek community are as accepting as we are.