A Conservative Institution: A Perspective on Fraternities
In my view, the fraternities at Wabash, while not explicitly conservative, promote (perhaps unwittingly) conservative values of individual responsibility, tradition, and the forming of a personal safety net. I will try to briefly explore where each is found in the fraternities and why each leads a Brother to hold more conservative values.
Within fraternity houses on campus there are the responsible individuals who smooth the operations and perform thankless tasks. Whether it is a treasurer paying the bills, or a freshmen vacuuming a hallway, a well-functioning fraternity relies on these individuals to complete, with little oversight, work that can be postponed or procrastinated. A fraternity teaches its Brothers responsibility through the jobs and positions they hold throughout their four years. Likewise, the immediate accountability that a fraternity offers builds up a Brother. A fraternity house, on some level, requires its members to trust one another to do their allotted tasks in order to promote the efficient running of the house.
Related to this, conservatives trust the individual trust the individual to be responsible. Thus, they seek to put more responsibility in the hands of individual, rather than in the government. It is conservatives’ belief that an individual is capable of managing his/her own life which leads them to favor less government and regulation. By building trust in individual responsibility during undergraduate years I put forth that they will take for granted individual’s ability to do work.
If brotherhood is the life of fraternities then tradition is the sustenance on which it feeds. Tradition binds all brothers into something larger than themselves; tradition binds past, present and future together, which is key in establishing a lasting identity. The traditions we inherit in our fraternities are more than a list of alumni contacts, but a source of common experience which all brothers can share. For example, alumni classes can reminisce about their time during homecoming– constructing floats, preparing the queen, etc. Thus, tradition serves a two-fold purpose of instilling identity while creating a common platform to engage all brothers.
I hope that once fraternity brothers recognize the value they place in one set of traditions, they will also see the emphasis conservatism places on society’s enduring traditions. Of course, not everyone sees tradition as a good. I posit that being actively hostile to tradition is the necessary conclusion of seeing the past as a symbol of oppression. History, in some progressive liberals’ eyes, is racist, misogynistic, homophobic and incapable of providing relevant answers to today’s cutting-edge questions. Yet, conservatives understand that traditions from the past, can point the way to living a good life, and what one should strive to achieve. Wrapping oneself in tradition, whether in one’s fraternity colors or in the solutions to humanity’s eternal questions, is beneficial to the development of a well-adjusted individual.
Fraternities at Wabash also promote two aspects of personal safety nets. Fraternities encourage (or require) members to become involved in helping other organizations and also provide the environment that teaches the most important principle of brotherhood: helping one’s brothers. I concede that the term “safety net” is entrenched in the American mind as a distinctly progressive idea, but I wish to clarify that what liberals support is a social safety net. I contend that a personal safety net made of friends, families and peers is stronger and more humane than the progressive alternative.
First, there is the dehumanizing way in which social security programs operate. For such programs to function they require the compulsory participation of everyone productive members to pay regardless of personal affections. What once was based in voluntary charity participation given by individuals to individuals no longer exists. Now, all that is required is for money to be sent along to the government, which then takes care of the details. The act of altruism which was once a virtue has been reduced to a required tax for the supposed betterment of everyone involved. I think that charitable action is much more humane.
Secondly, I believe the way in which personal safety nets are structured is more robust than a socialized system. This is demonstrated when emergencies leave individuals stranded away from the caring arms of government. Social safety nets, like centralized systems, can become incapacitated with disastrous results. A decentralized personal safety net is less susceptible to such attacks and can endure to provide support and relief when it is needed most.
While fraternities are not dedicated to producing more conservative brothers, it is a happy coincidence that the fraternities here at Wabash instill important conservative values into their brothers such as individual responsibility, the importance of tradition, and personal safety nets. I know that into the future fraternities will continue to be an important member of the Wabash community, because of the values they hold and traditions they keep.
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