Campus politics are back in full swing! Here’s your bi-weekly update.
TDX loses (and then recovers) its housing
On Jan. 20, Stanford Office of Student Affairs informed fraternity Theta Delta Chi that it would lose its housing at the end of this year. The office then reversed its decision, restoring TDX’s housing for the 2019-20 year after allegedly catching a procedural flaw in its Standards of Excellence grading system.
For more information on Stanford’s history of fraternity evictions, check out this Daily article sparked by SAE’s eviction in 2015.
Even after the university reversed TDX’s eviction, the last several years of university fraternity policy reflect a trend of reducing the presence of fraternities on campus. Some argue that the decision to evict TDX was simply part of the larger “continued assault against housed fraternities” at Stanford.
Nevertheless, Stanford’s recent fraternity evictions may have little to do with general animosity toward Greek organizations. A recent Daily article notes that TDX has failed to meet Standards of Excellence for four consecutive years and poses the question: “Why is there so much opposition to an organization being unhoused for meritocratic reasons?” In it, Megha Parwani writes:
“Four years is a long time for an organization to seek clarification on where it continually goes wrong. Four years comprise most undergraduate careers. This should make us wonder whether, even if we grant that SOE could be more transparent, TDX has really had the rug pulled out from under it. While it’s tough that its members only have a few days to craft an appeal to the administration’s decision, it’s important to remember that they are appealing a decision that has been in the realm of possibility for hundreds of days.”
Whether or the decline in fraternities’ on-campus presence has been intentional or inadvertent, readers should consider how they want the university to oversee fraternities — and their housing privileges — going forward.
Kamala Harris declares candidacy
Description: Kamala Harris at her rally in Oakland on Jan. 27.
Image Credit: Rolling Stone
Kamala Harris declared her candidacy for president on Jan. 21. Harris’s father, Donald J. Harris, is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at Stanford University. Harris added her name to a Democratic field, which already includes one other candidate with Stanford connections, Julian Castro (Stanford ’96), and is expected to eventually include at least one more, Cory Booker (Stanford ’91, ’92).
SCR accuses the Stanford Daily of bias
Stanford College Republicans blasted the Stanford Daily via a post on the SCR Facebook page on Jan. 13. SCR members released a statement written by the executive editor of the Daily, then running for Editor-In-Chief of the paper, that referred to Daily writers as “leftists.” Stanford College Republicans chastised the Daily, claiming that this candidate’s statements indicate that the reporting of the Stanford Daily is “biased toward the left.” The Daily refuted these charges, responding that “platforms express the views of a candidate, not of the paper.” Although the executive editor’s statement can certainly be interpreted to characterize the paper as biased, one staff member’s understanding of the paper is inconclusive.
And In Case You Missed It…
CS+X major program to no longer accept new students (Shao and Wan / Stanford Daily)
MIT, Stanford Academics Design Cryptocurrency to Better Bitcoin (Marsh / Bloomberg)
Former Stanford QB Schonert dies of heart attack (Palo Alto Online Sports)
Former Presidential Envoy to Defeat ISIS Named Payne Distinguished Lecturer (Feldman / FSI)
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