We Are The Bear / National petition
BAN
GREEK
LIFE.
Protect students and survivors.
Not reputations.
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We Are The Bear calls for legislation to end social fraternities and sororities nationwide, including independent organizations operating outside university recognition. Survivors deserve support, students deserve safety, and institutions must be held accountable for the systems they maintain.
Protect Students and Survivors, Not Reputations: End Greek Life and Demand Accountability
A reputation is not worth
more than a person.
We’re asking lawmakers to act. Our goal includes independent social fraternities and sororities, not only organizations recognized by a university.
Proposed national doctrine / Public discussion draft
The Collegiate Greek Organization Abolition and Campus Safety Act
Proposed policy. Not enacted law.
This is the public statement of the national policy we are pursuing. It sets out the proposal’s scope and demands. Detailed statutory language is still being developed.
Purpose
We call on state legislatures and Congress to develop and enact legislation ending social fraternities and sororities across the United States. The proposal seeks to protect students and survivors, confront abusive organizational practices, and strengthen accountability beyond a university’s internal processes.
Ending Greek life is one part of that work. It will not, by itself, end sexual violence. Independent survivor support and institutional accountability must continue alongside it.
Organizations covered
The proposed prohibition would cover social fraternities and sororities, their national and regional bodies, local chapters, and independently operating social Greek organizations. University recognition, affiliation, or use of Greek letters would not determine whether a covered organization falls within the proposal.
The focus is social fraternities and sororities. An academic honor society, professional association, or other student organization would not be covered solely because its name uses Greek letters. Definitions and the treatment of successor organizations must be made explicit in legislative language.
End institutional affiliation and support
We seek an end to institutional recognition, sponsorship, funding, recruitment privileges, and other university support for covered organizations. Colleges and universities should be required to implement clear transition plans and publish how they will comply.
Students affected by a transition should have access to support and information about housing and other practical arrangements. Ending an organizational structure should not mean abandoning the students within it.
Include independently operating organizations
Our national objective includes prohibiting covered social fraternities and sororities that operate independently of a university. Removing recognition alone would not meet this objective if the same organizations could continue operating unchanged outside that relationship.
We are calling for state and federal legislative development that addresses formation, recruitment, operation, and continuation of covered organizations. The specific legal authority, definitions, enforcement mechanisms, and constitutional questions must be resolved during drafting and review. This public doctrine states the policy we are asking lawmakers to pursue; it does not claim that a nationwide prohibition is already law.
Independent survivor support and choice
Survivors should have access to qualified advocates outside a university’s chain of command. Our related Independent Survivor Advocacy Act proposal seeks support with medical care, counseling, legal and protective resources, documentation, and communication with institutions.
Support must respect a survivor’s informed choices. Signing this petition is not consent to disclose a survivor’s experience, identity, or private account.
Accountability without retaliation
Legislation should establish independent oversight, clear complaint procedures, and enforceable obligations for covered institutions and organizations. It should address retaliation, intimidation, obstruction, and attempts to avoid accountability through a change of name or affiliation.
Enforcement must distinguish institutional and organizational responsibilities from allegations against individuals. A person’s membership alone is not proof that they committed sexual assault or another offense. Fair procedures and applicable legal protections must be preserved.
A national effort with public progress
Our goal reaches every state and the federal level. State and federal proposals will need their own legal authority, sponsors, review, and legislative processes. One petition does not enact a law or automatically create legislation in every jurisdiction.
We will publish confirmed developments as this work advances. Final statutory language, implementation periods, oversight responsibilities, and remedies remain part of legislative drafting and review.
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