This commentary was written in response to George Henson’s commentary titled, “Call me cynical.” The commentary ran in the Mar. 28 edition of The Daily Campus.

Mr. Henson,

My name is Charles Webb and I am currently a senior here at SMU. I am also a member of the Greek System but not an SAE. I would like to respond to your article in the following ways.

First of all, I would like to see the sources of the statistics from which you cite that “rape is more likely to happen in a fraternity house than a dormitory.”

Secondly, I am aware that drugs are a problem at SMU. I am aware that drugs are prevalent within fraternities as well as with students who are not fraternity members. Furthermore, I do not mean any disrespect by the following; however, this is my opinion: If a student or a person chooses to do drugs, that is a choice that they have made and it is their responsibility to deal with the consequences. While I did not know Jakes Stiles and I am very sorry for his death, he chose to do drugs and ultimately paid the biggest price for that choice. I don’t think that you can hold other people accountable or responsible for a choice that Jake Stiles made. I also don’t think you can imply that the SAEs are out of control. The mistake of one and the allegation of another do not mean that every, or any, SAE is a drug addict or a rapist. I am friends with some SAEs and every single one that I know is a great guy.

Lastly, as an SMU professor, how can you say, “Also based on what is known, one suspects that the allegations are true.” This is disturbing to me because you are not investigating this case and you don’t have any knowledge about what happened at the SAE house more so than I do. I thought that in the United States, people were innocent until proven guilty. I believe that you have convicted this person before there has even been a trial. I think that this is not the way that a professor should act, especially in regards to a student at his or her school.

I think that before an SMU professor writes an article like this, that professor should wait until he has all of the facts.

Charles Webb is a senior financial consulting major. He can be reached at [email protected].