In 1990, I matriculated at Middlebury College. It was the year when Middlebury's fraternities (there were no sororities, due to a lack of interest) allegedly met their demise.
So ... how come I was still going to Middlebury fraternity parties when I was a senior, in 1994?
Fraternities at Middlebury did not die, as the college had intended. They simply went underground, off-campus. It was easy ... the students had enough brains and money to do it ... more importantly, they wanted to do it. They naturally rebelled against being told what to in their private social lives. It will be easy to do at Dartmouth, too ... a fact that your administration must be studiously ignoring.
Dartmouth will not stop 150 years of tradition. They will simply drive it off campus. And it will drive back, drunk. Which is nothing to be proud of.
While this is going on, perhaps Dartmouth will turn its old Greek houses into "co-ed social houses," as Middlebury did. This sounds like a warm and fuzzy, politically correct, inclusive alternative, doesn't it? Think again. If Dartmouth is worried about elitism, this is not the answer. Rest assured that the new co-ed houses will be every bit as elitist as the old Greek houses.
In fact, one of the reasons I continued to attend "illegal" fraternity parties at Middlebury is that I felt more welcome and comfortable at those parties than I did at the co-ed houses. At the fraternities, I was treated as a gladly received guest and was never made to feel uncomfortable.
At the co-ed houses, the female members of the houses viewed my women friends and me as threats ... because as good "sisters," these women protected their "brothers" fiercely.
I doubt that Dartmouth officials have considered the psychological and emotional consequences of co-ed social clubs. For example: you can expect that most dating by co-ed house members will occur with other members of their house. Not only does this increase the social intensity of the clubs, making outsiders feel unwelcome, romantic break-ups will be emotionally devastating, as couples will be expected to remain "siblings" after their break-ups.
Or how about the fact that the co-ed houses (at least in their early stages, which is the time period I witnessed) will also require men and women to be initiated into the house like fraternity brothers, meaning that women will be hazed and expected to drink as much as the men. Which, biologically, is a bad idea.
Please remember that Middlebury students, much like Dartmouth students, did not want the fraternity system to end. A campus-wide student vote showed support for the status quo, but was ignored by the administration.
It angers me that Middlebury's system is pointed out as a "successful" transition away from the Greek system. That was not my experience. Although I enjoyed attending the off-campus fraternities parties, and although I was fiercely proud of my male friends for keeping up a tradition of brotherhood that they believed in, I was sad that they were forced to take that risk in the name of "progress."
Middlebury students, like Dartmouth students, are chosen for admission based on their aptitude, maturity and predicted ability to succeed in college. It upsets me to remember that my school suddenly decided that we were not mature enough to handle our own social decisions. It upsets me now to see that Dartmouth officials are making the same mistake and assuming that they hold the crystal ball, that they know what is socially "right" and "wrong."
If minority students ask a prestigious northeastern college to allow them to have their own house so that they may socialize almost exclusively with each other, colleges across the board comply. If homosexual students start a club that is limited to gays and lesbians, colleges support them.
Which is what they should do.
But to be consistent, colleges ought to recognize the basic right of any group that does not harm others to organize and fraternize. The desire of students to form single-sex organizations is natural, and it is not harmful. Forcing students into social organizations that they did not gravitate toward naturally can be harmful.
My social life at Middlebury was still a success, because my fellow students and I made sure that there were still other options (like underground fraternities and the women's rugby club ... the closest thing to a sorority Middlebury has). I do not believe that the school's social experiment has been a success.
I hope that Dartmouth is the last school to make this mistake.
