What does it mean to be a member of an organization? I think one major aspect is that you are a representative of that organization wherever you go and in whatever you do. That must be why politicians and business leaders still mention their college fraternities. When a member of a fraternity goes on to success and greatness we hear about it. Articles are written in school papers singing the praises of fraternities and their leader-building qualities. That must be why a frat-brawl on university property is so shocking…

Sorry, it isn't really that shocking. It is actually rather stereotypical. There are even university-sanctioned frat-brawls - namely Pike Fights. Granted, the police don't show up and pepper spray the participants, but the same basic ideas run through last weekend's fight and the Pike Fights.

In the official statement released by Phi Beta Sigma, there is an apology for any "discrepancies we may have caused …" immediately followed by the statement, "we do not regret anything that we may have done to defend the honor of the fraternity … ." So, if I understand it correctly, the statement is pegging the blame for this all-out-brawl on a defense of honor.

Defending one's honor isn't exactly a new idea. Medieval European knights jousted to protect honor, kings started wars to protect it, kids will start fights to protect it, and people today are shot because of it. The idea of fighting in the name of honor probably goes all the way back to the beginning of man.

Unfortunately, this fight for honor has left everyone involved looking bad. Hasn't anyone discovered that it doesn't work? How much honor have those arrested students brought their respective organizations? When you assault a police officer at a sorority party, how are you defending your honor, or anybody else's? The 11 UTM students that were arrested last Friday night brought shame upon their frats. They brought shame upon the entire Greek community.

This is a bad moment for Greek life on campus, and as national news has picked up on the story, it has become a bad moment for the entire campus. It would be so much worse if the frats involved, and all of the Greek community, didn't learn a real lesson from it. Giving a half-hearted apology with an excuse wrapped up inside of it won't teach anybody anything, it won't make anybody feel better about it, and most importantly, it won't restore honor to the guilty parties.

Steve Helgeson is a junior History major from Chico, California.