The presidents of the College's six largest sororities recently sent a letter to several key administrators and to the Committee on Diversity and Community at Dartmouth defending the merits of the sorority system.
The letter was written in response to a recommendation in CDCD's final report released last month that urged the College to immediately evaluate the Greek system.
The six presidents said they recognize flaws in the Greek system as a whole but noted the sororities have many positive aspects.
"While we feel that the benefits our houses provide far outweigh the detriments, we are continually looking for ways to improve in all areas, including those addressing the issue of diversity," they wrote.
"While we do not agree with the absolute statement that 'the CFS system is detrimental to the goals of the College,' we do agree that attempts should be made to improve it," the letter stated.
College President James Freedman formed the CDCD in 1992 to evaluate the state of diversity at Dartmouth. Part of the committee's report said the Greek system is detrimental to the management of diversity at the College.
The CDCD report quoted a 1989 report on diversity to support its claim that the current Greek system goes against the College's mission.
"On the whole, the CFS system tends to encourage excessive drinking, anti-intellectualism, sexism, racism and homophobia -precisely those types of behavior which the College is actively trying to correct," the CDCD report said.
In the responding letter, dated Feb. 8, the six presidents wrote that they hope to have further communication with the College and CDCD members to "voice our thoughts and to understand yours."
Edward Fox, CDCD vice chair and dean of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, said the committee has finished making recommendations and that the sorority presidents would gain more by talking to the administration.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton, who also served on the committee, said he would be happy to sit down with sorority members to talk about their concerns with the report.
The letter was also sent to Trustee Stanford Roman, who chaired the CDCD, Freedman, Pelton, Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco, Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders and the 12 other CDCD members.
The letter was signed by Delta Delta Delta President Emmie Jones '95, Delta Gamma President Corey Fleming '95, Epsilon Kappa Theta President Cheryl Flick '95, Kappa Delta Epsilon President Cheri Pinkerton '94, Kappa Kappa Gamma President Julie Bowen '95 and Sigma Delta President Adriana McGrath '95.
The six presidents said they wrote the letter with the support and input of Panhellenic Council President Melissa Trumbull '95. The Panhellenic Council is the self-governing body of the College's sororities.
In the first paragraph of the letter, the presidents wrote that because the 28 Greek houses are so different, the CFS system would have trouble responding as a whole to the charges made in the CDCD report.
"We felt that a single response from [the Greek system] ... could not be comprehensive," they wrote. "Even recognizing that there are great differences amount our six houses, our sub-council provides us with a good platform from which to respond."
In a statement to the Dartmouth, the six presidents said the letter was not intended to separate the sororities from the fraternities.
"Our purpose was to open lines of communication with the Dartmouth administration," the statement said.
The presidents said they discussed the letter with house members and received positive feedback from them, and also said Freedman and Reinders "thought that our letter was effective in opening lines of communication between ourselves and the administration."
Freedman could not be reached for comment.
The letter discusses several aspects of the sorority system that the signers consider positive, including philanthropic activities, the integration and empowerment of Dartmouth women and opportunities for women to learn from each other.
Hosea Harvey '95, a member of the CDCD, said the committee discussed the positive aspects of the sorority system, but still came to the conclusion that there were problems in the Greek system as a whole.
"Not all the houses are equal, and the CDCD did not try to suggest that. The system will only be as strong as its weakest link," Harvey said.
"With these issues on the table, it is possible to emerge unified behind new ideas and new ideals," he said.
CDCD member Andrew Beebe '93 said would like to see the sorority presidents take a more proactive step than simply writing a letter to administrators.
"I think this indicates a willingness of the sorority system to be involved in future discourse on the future of the CFS system," Beebe said. "It's a step forward."
