For the Wildcat

As Americans we value the judicial system. So it is baffling that when Phi Kappa Psi was found not guilty of stealing of 10,000 Wildcats by the judicial board at the U of A, Greek life, and most importantly, UAPD, the Daily Wildcat will simply not let it go. To continually libel our entire fraternity and ruin the name of a national group that so many have contributed to over the years is just wrong and disrespectful. The Wildcat does this because the storyline of the frat boy, and frankly, you cannot blame them for it. The power of the pen is very strong, and to be honest, I believe that the Wildcat needs to consider the consequences of your articles. The image of fraternities in this paper has always been stereotypical and has always outplayed the truth. The Wildcat has consistenly portrayed all of Phi Kappa Psi to be upper class, arrogant, rude, aggressive partiers, but most importantly, thieves as well.

The truth is that we couldn’t be further away from those accusations. We are easily the most diverse fraternity on the Arizona campus, and I couldn’t be more proud of that fact. There are people from all walks of life. People who can’t afford to be in out fraternity, but we make it work through scholarships and payment plans. Men of all races, black, white, Indian, Mexican, and Native American. We have so many different religions and ideals and we all still find a way to get along, and be brothers. We have people that have 4.0 GPA’s and for those who don’t, we have study tables every week to help people improve their grades. We always do what is best for the chapter and the fraternity’s name as a whole, because we care about one another, and no selfish act could change that.

However, on the fateful morning of October 8, 2009, someone stole 10,000 copies of the Wildcat. Without a blink of an eye, “anonymous tips” come flooding in claiming that Phi Psi was responsible. The reason? Because they were in the Police Beat about a girl accusing them of giving her a roofy at a party. Her symptoms, as documented and reported by the Daily Wildcat were, “The woman reported that at approximately 11:30 p.m., she had begun feeling “overly flirtatious.” The woman also claimed to have experienced a loss of both hearing and bladder control. The woman told officers that her friend had walked her back to her residence at the Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall at approximately 1 a.m. on Sept. 27, at which point she vomited. The woman’s friends later told her that between the hours of 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 and 1 a.m. on Sept. 27, she had made out with three different men at the party.” These type of accusations against fraternities are in the Police Beat every week, including Phi Psi in the past, and the papers have never been stolen. So what would make a fraternity do it this time?

The fact of the matter is that this type of libel, and slander goes unnoticed because it’s assumed that whatever is printed in the Wildcat is true. They would never take advantage of their print duties, even in the opinion section. Well the fact of the matter is that you did do that. You took a situation where you lost and turned it on an innocent fraternity to make them look like the culprit, even after they had been proven innocent. The editorial column and opinion section of the Wildcat is supposed to be a place for people to express feelings about