Two polls taken by The Dartmouth indicate students overwhelmingly favor the continuation of the single-sex Greek system, although opinions range about what, if anything should replace it if need be.
Taken immediately after the announcement of the Trustees' Initiative in February and then a month later in March, the two polls' results were nearly identical.
Out of 2,624 respondents, 60 percent said they support the continuation of the single-sex Greek system at the College, down just two percentage points from the days immediately following the bombshell announcement on February 9. Only 16 percent said they do not support the continuation of the single-sex Greek system at Dartmouth.
Before Winter Carnival, 83 percent of respondents said the single-sex Greek system should continue and 15 percent said it should be abolished.
Forty percent indicated they believe the implementation of the Five Principles Initiative outlined by the Board of Trustees will improve the overall residential and social life experience at the College. Fifty-one percent said they did.
That represented a shift over the first month following the Trustees' announcement, when only 22 percent of respondents indicated they believe the Five Principles will have a positive effect on the College.
At the time The Dartmouth initially surveyed students, the belief that increased confusion surrounding what the principles' effects will entail accounted for some of the increase in support for the principles. Many students said they do not believe implementation of the Five Principles will lead to an end to the single-sex Greek system, despite initial comments to the contrary made by College President James Wright and then Trustee Chair Stephen Bosworth '61.
Since then, student discussion is more involved in brainstorming possible implementations in the social system to meet the goals of the Initiative. Student ideas have been collected by the Task Force and the Trustee Steering Committee.
One thing that has stayed consistent throughout the controversy has been the level of support for the Greek system from unaffiliated students. The opinion polls showed the difference between numbers of Greek and unaffiliated students who supported the continuation of the Greek system. Of the upperclass respondents who said they want the single-sex Greek system to end, 87 percent were unaffiliated.
The level of support for the Initiative from College professors differs greatly from that of the majority of students who responded to the poll, as well.
In a poll conducted by The Dartmouth of the College's 394 professors, 58 percent of those who responded said they "supported the elimination of single-sex sororities and fraternities at Dartmouth College." Thirty percent said they opposed their elimination and 12 percent were undecided.
Most faculty members said the Greek houses deteriorate the intellectual life of the College and hinder relationships that cross gender, racial and class lines.
A majority of 79 percent supported the Five Principles while only seven percent opposed it. This supports the special faculty meeting held February 18 when the staff voted 82-0 to endorse the Initiative.
In the months following the Initiative, student and community opinion has been voiced in letters to the editor of The Dartmouth, and on the interactive website of The Dartmouth. Opinions have ranged from letters fully supporting the Initiative and ideas about the Greek system to editorials calling for no surrender to the Trustees' ideas.
