To the Editor:
Yesterday's guest column from Jean Hudson argues that Middlebury College is not an example of a successful transition to a coed social system. I agree. However, the situation at Middlebury was quite different and I don't think that experience can be exactly applied to the situation at Dartmouth.
First, Middlebury had a Greek system that was entirely all-male. Dartmouth has well established system of fraternities, sororities, and coed houses. This fact, which seems lost on the administration and the national media, makes the case at Middlebury almost irrelevant.
Second, Ms. Hudson says that, "I doubt that Dartmouth officials have considered the psychological and emotional consequences of coed social clubs." In fact, many members of the Dartmouth community effectively deal with these issues every day. Coed fraternities have existed at the College since coeducation and in recent years there have also been non-Greek coed undergraduate societies.
I will agree that membership in a coed fraternity or society can present unique challenges but there are students who choose this option and have positive experiences that rival the benefits of membership in single-sex organizations.
Middlebury's mistake, and the Dartmouth administration's, is assuming that this will work for everyone. Coed houses are not inherently better than single-sex houses nor are they terribly flawed as Ms. Hudson seems to believe. I believe that coed houses are most effective when they are part of a diverse system that offers students different experiences to choose from.
Middlebury's Greek system did not offer choices to all students and their administration took steps to change that. Their decisions and the circumstances they made them in were unique. Dartmouth's system already offers choices that Middlebury's students never had. Any social system at Dartmouth must preserve those diverse choices.
Dartmouth has already proven that coed organizations work. The real debate is: why must they be the only option available?
