Another Virginia university fraternity is in trouble with feminists – but this time, it is not for false sexual assault claims brought against the frat, but rather, for being too welcoming to women students and their families.
The Sigma Nu chapter at Old Dominion University had created a multi-prong campaign to encourage new women students to join the so-called “STEM” fields of study (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) but the effort ran into trouble recently when feminists complained that signs directing and welcoming women were somehow oppressive to them.
Although an estimated 60% of college students are women, STEM fields are still dominated by men, who are often blamed by feminists for making these disciplines too daunting, demeaning and discriminatory for women to be attracted into them.
The wily men of the Sigma Nu (for “Science Nerds,” the original, whimsical appellation adopted by the socially concerned founders of the frat) decided to combat this historical and hysterical revulsion to women in STEM by “changing the culture” associated with rigorous, logical hard-science studies. Their rebranding efforts began with a series of signs attached to their dedicated science research domicile:
The first sign, designed to reassure nervous parents that their daughters were welcome to STEM classes, touted the hearty camaraderie of the science students. “Rowdy and fun! Hope your baby girl is ready for a good time…” This message was obviously designed to show new women students (and their parents) that they would be happy and well-cared for in their company.
The second, more modest sign, clearly indicated with an arrow the welcoming and open educational path women should follow: “Freshman daughter drop-off.”
The third sign, with a its politically inclusive, anti-ageist message, encouraged mothers to join their daughters if they wished: “Go ahead and drop off mom, too…”, meaning the men were willing to take on women of all ages and experience in their efforts to spread science education.
Inside the front door I toured a state-of-the-art facility that will rewrite the rule book on how to encourage women in science to be healthy, safe, included and productive.
The facility uses the “paradigm” approach, first pioneered in the mid 1970’s, where students are tossed into a challenging experimental environment where a series of real-life, practical projects are given to them. They are expected to explore their interests using their own preferred learning styles instead of the more traditional classroom lectures and/or ideological litmus tests that women STEM students in particular found so intimidating, unnerving and embarrassing. For example:
- A mandatory breast cancer screening room offers first hand techniques in catching this awful disease early; the comfortable sofas and tasty libations available are designed to put newcomers completely at ease, a trend in women’s health centers elsewhere.
- An advanced sleep study lab tracks and hopes to expand upon recent discoveries that sleeping in the nude promotes deeper sleep, weight loss, and vaginal health, areas of concern for many women students.
- A well-stocked, working, student-led and run pharmacological dispensary is designed to give students practical skills in the synergies of both business and biochemical engineering.
- A biology lab practicum where students can explore the subtle tease of flirtation and consent in a closely monitored and peer-reviewed format, complete with live-streaming to other locations worldwide.
However, this futuristic, bleeding-edge concept is attracting some negative reviews, much like the Taliban and other radical Islamists violently attack the education of women and girls in countries like Afghanistan.
Like the Taliban, the national organization behind the creative Sigma Nu local condemned these efforts to co-mingle men and women college students as “derogatory and demeaning,” adding it had “no place in our Fraternity or within any caring community, such as that of [Old Dominion University].”
Likewise, according to the BBC, the University President John R Broderick wrote “There is zero tolerance on this campus for sexual assault and sexual harassment…”, clearly indicating his discomfort with welcoming women into co-educational STEM environments that study controversial topics experimentally.
Although this innovative integration of genders by the local Sigma Nu frat is truly visionary, it may have gone too far too fast for some, I look forward to the day when both men and women can join together on campus as true equals unrestrained by the restrictions enforced by both feminist and traditionalist fuddy-duddies, who seem to have no sense of humor at all.
Editor’s note: For those who are unfamiliar with the author’s style, it will be helpful to note that he often uses satire and hyperbole in his writings.