UF’s Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council released statementsFriday afternoon recognizing students protesting the lack of blue lights on Fraternity Drive.
Blue Light Emergency Phones are non-dial outdoor telephones where students can reach the University Police Department of their location in the event of an emergency. In its statement posted on Facebook, IFC says it is not opposed to blue lights. The Panhellenic Council says it advocates for women and their safety on campus, but did not specifically mention blue lights.
On Tuesday, students will be demonstrating across from Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity to highlight the lack of blue lights on fraternity row – the only place on campus without any. Both councils express understanding for demonstrators’s right to protest, as well as support for increased efforts to promote student safety.
“There are no active chapter presidents or chapter bodies that are opposed to the installation of additional blue lights anywhere on our campus,” the IFC’s statement said. “Our council is consistently making strides towards making all of our chapter facilities the safest they can be for students.”
Organizers for the blue light protest did not initially seek support from Greek organizations or Student Government after the resolution failed last spring. They wanted to keep the protest ‘non-partisan.’ However, Monday they reached out to the two Greek councils asking for support.
The five protest organizers — Emily Hyden, Alfredo Ortiz, William Zelin, Mark Merwitzer and Samantha Gildea— said they don’t feel like the wording of the IFC’s statement is enough to call it outright support of blue lights, nor the protest itself.
“If they were intending to express support for the protest, they should have explicitly stated that in their public statements,” Zelin said.
When asked if IFC supports adding blue lights to fraternity row specifically, Graham Boone, IFC vice president of finance, said the council has no say over placement, and the decision is up to Student Government.
Fraternity houses are owned by the fraternities, but the land they are on, including sidewalks where the lights would be, are owned by UF.
“As mentioned [in the IFC statement], we do not feel comfortable as a council commenting on projects which we have no power to fund or control,” he said, responding to a comment made by Ben Lima, former Inspire senator, on the Facebook post.
At the end of Spring 2019, then Senate President Pro-Tempore and current Gator Party President Emily Dunson expressed concern over Senate Bill 2019-1061, which commonly referred to as the “Blue Light Bill.”
Dunson opposed the resolution during a SG Judiciary Committee meeting on April 8 because fraternity and sorority presidents were not advised. At the meeting, Will Sandifer, the SG Judiciary Committee Chair, said the minority party wasn’t taking the “relevant actors in the situation,” into account when drafting the resolution
“Has any fraternity president on Fraternity Drive reached out and said, ‘We want a blue light right in front of our house’’?” Sandifer said at the Judiciary meeting.
Dunson then twice pushed back adding the Blue Light resolution to the agenda at the SG Judiciary Committee meeting on April 8 and at the SG Senate meeting on April 16. On April 23, Senate President Libby Shaw cast a tie-breaking vote that failed to bring the bill up for debate.
Shaw, who originally supported the bill, also co-founded the Panhellenic Council’s Sister Support Ambassador program, which provides counseling to women in the Greek system dealing with campus sexual assault.
“Panhellenic seeks to unite women, to create a support system, and to support women to advocate for what they’re passionate about,” The Panhellenic Council’s statement said.
Both Shaw and Dunson are members of Delta Zeta sorority and Alpha Delta Pi sorority, respectively. Shaw and Dunson declined to comment after several emails, calls, texts and in-person meetings.
The Alligator emailed IFC and Panhellenic presidents twice with questions about past remarks made by Shaw and Dunson about the resolution. Kappa Alpha Order fraternity directed an Alligator reporter to the IFC’s statement when asked for a follow-up regarding emails sent prior.
“Our council leadership is not, has not been, and will not be directly involved in any Student Government decisions or conversations with regards to Student Government funds towards not only the installation of these proposed blue lights,” the IFC’s statement said.
Alia DeLong, a UF doctoral student and member of the National Women’s Liberation, works on a sign that reads “Protect Women, Blue Lights Now” at the NWL sign-making event on the evening of Sept. 10.
“The reason the National Women’s Liberation is passionate about this is because we know that the culture associated with fraternities also happens to be associated with sexual assault,” DeLong said. “Knowing that women lack that resource is why we’re concerned.”
