To the Editor:
I would like to echo Dan Lukas' well-argued sentiments that appeared in The Dartmouth on Feb. 23. As an unaffiliated Film Studies major -- exactly the 'type' of student this new initiative purports to help -- I am in complete disagreement with the administration. The arrogance of Wright and his cohorts in issuing this decree without so much as a phone call to interested parties (i.e., students) is beyond contempt.
While those in favor of this new tack point, incorrectly, to the 1972 admission of women as a justified parallel, I would just like to mention that the men were not outlawed as result of the change in policy (men's presence at Dartmouth, like fraternities, being an old, tired tradition dating back to the early years of the college's history). I am all for, as I am sure many on both sides of the argument are, more social options and an expansion of coeducational living quarters as an alternative to the Greek system. This is not a zero sum game where something has to be destroyed in order for something new to take shape. The destruction of the fraternities and sororities is being done because the administration is afraid their 'revolutionary' ideas for social life, and their requisite buildings, will not compete favorably with established houses. Why are they so frightened by genuine competition and choice? Fraternities and sororities have never been all things to all students at Dartmouth (myself being one of them), nor should they have to be. Nor should mandated coed houses, as the only option, be all things to all people.
As the recipient of generous financial aid and grants from giving alumni, I am torn as to whether or not I should support Dartmouth financially, and I have not as yet decided. On the one hand, why should I put money into the hands of those who would seek to destroy fundamental traditions that define Dartmouth's character (And, unlike some, I am not ashamed of what Dartmouth is and what it has been). On the other hand, I owe a lot to the school and feel obligated to support an institution that has done so much for me in so many different ways. I am angry at the administration for putting me in this situation.
I will not, because of time constraints at work, address the supposed deficits of the Greek system that critics always point to (Yes, I will end a sentence with a preposition -- the forced drinking at those frats and sororities really affected my studies). I will simply say that I am profoundly, as much as a 24-year-old can be profound, disappointed with what is going on and will doing everything I can to fight this tyrannical decision.