Now that the dust has settled from Chris Grillot’s opinion column, “SAE incident should incite change in the Greek community,” published March 7, I want to go over some of the logistics.

The fact of the matter is, both parties, Grillot and the Greek community alike, misconstrued different elements of the column.

First and foremost, readers must understand it was an opinion column and the viewpoint of a writer can be wildly controversial or radically biased because it is in their right to do so.

At the same time, however, calling a group of 100-plus men “a gigantic boyfriend club” has its repercussions as well.

And that is where the check and balance system falls into place as University students, particularly with Greek affiliation, raised a little hell.

Which is a good thing. Grillot was able to incite a reaction out of his readers, and readers let him know that certain aspects of his column were, in their own opinions – not in the least bit necessary or true, which they are rightly entitled to do.

So, does The Reveille have a vendetta against the Greek community, or even more specifically, Sigma Alpha Epsilon?

No.

It employs members of the Greek community, myself included.

Grillot’s stance just happened to be a prominent one. It’s evident through his perspective he correlates a negative connotation with fraternities as a whole.

Since he is not affiliated with a fraternity, why would anyone expect anything less than a negative stigma associated with his viewpoint?

And why would those of us bound to our respective organizations in the Greek community expect his opinion on SAE’s suspension to be any different from the manner in which it was written?

I understand and wholeheartedly agree that articles like this are the type of negative media portrayal our organizations do not need.

But the fact remains: Reveille columnists are paid to convey their opinions, regardless of what type of whirlwind might arise among the student population.

Unfortunately, SAE was sanctioned to punishment that was ridiculed in the paper.

There’s absolutely no way around that.

Grillot writing that “none of them will ever be gentlemen,” will harbor rebuttals of “he probably got cut” and the works.

And there’s no way around that, either.

It’s an ongoing cycle that must be taken in context and let run its course.

A common ground may never be reached in matters such as these as it is easy to scapegoat a particular fraternity or writer of a column before thinking through every facet of the topic at hand.

Both parties made decisions and now they are paying the piper and dealing with the consequences.

I hope one day in the future Grillot can drink a green beer at the SAE house for Paddy Murphy and laugh this one off.

But that’s not realistic. Our community of readers needs to accept how the cycle works and embrace that not everyone will share the same opinion as you – especially in The Reveille opinion section.

John Polivka is a 21-year-old creative writing junior from Houston.