The Georgetown University Grilling Society has decided to delay the sale of shirts that read “GUGS: Grade A, Size D” in response to accusations of sexism by members of several prominent campus groups. These students have also objected to the name of the GUGS event “Grills Gone Wild Week,” to be held later this month.
The Student Activities Commission approved the shirts on March 10th by a vote of seven to one with three abstentions. On March 25th, SAC approved “Grills Gone Wild Week” on the condition that the name be changed. This past Monday GUGS appealed, asking SAC to allow them to use the proposed name. Several students, including members of GU Pride, MEChA, United Feminists and the Women’s Center went to the meeting to express their opposition to the appeal. The appeal passed by a vote of six to five with one abstention.
“Everyone knew we had also approved the shirts,” SAC Chair Sophia Behnia (COL ’09), who abstained from voting, said. “The combination really caused the controversy … If it had just been one or the other I don’t think it would’ve been a problem at all.”
After the SAC meeting, Marion Cory (COL ’10) created a Facebook event, “Grilling Society Gone Wrong,” urging students to put pressure on GUGS to change their slogan and protest against “Grills Gone Wild Week.” The event currently has 166 attendees.
“It’s not that we don’t have a sense of humor, we’re just trying to get our point across that we see real problems, societal problems, in using sexual propaganda for material gain,” Cory said.
Soon after the event was created, Dan Mahaffee (COL ’09) made a response group, “For Every GUGS Burger They Don’t Eat, I’ll Have Two!” The group currently has 355 members.
“It just seems to me to be an overreaction when there are so many other problems facing women in society,” Mahaffee said. “I think it’s a good debate about what the line with political correctness is, what freedoms people have, the freedom of speech, the freedom of a sense of humor.”
Cory said she regretted the polarizing effect her group had, but she is glad the issue is being discussed and hopes to have a meeting with GUGS President Jake Styacich (COL ’09) and a town hall meeting.
Styacich said he would be willing to meet with those who were offended by the slogans. “Grills Gone Wild Week” is still scheduled for April 21-25.
“Basically GUGS is all about having fun and we don’t take ourselves seriously and we try to have a funny t-shirt,” Styacich said. “It’s disappointing that people react like that when they don’t know me and they don’t know the group.”
