Members of the faculty, who voted 81 to 0 in favor of the derecognition of the Greek system in February, reported differing opinions on the Trustees' the Student Life Initiative statement released yesterday.
"I'm profoundly disappointed that the Trustees have decided to continue [Coed Fraternity Sorority] recognition as they are presently constituted," English professor Tom Luxon told The Dartmouth yesterday.
"Nothing in the decision goes to the reasons for having these organizations that are selective and single-sex," Luxon said. "Asking them to behave better is not the same as talking about their constitution."
Luxon said he is displeased that the deliberations of the faculty "don't seem really to matter sufficiently to [the Trustees]."
Religion professor Susan Ackerman echoed Luxon's sentiments with respect to the faculty vote. Both Ackerman and Luxon have been vocal opponents of the Greek system in the past.
Ackerman said the Trustees' decision was "pretty unexciting" and said of the section dealing with CFS organizations, "That's probably the part of what they said that I'm least impressed with."
Ackerman noted the selectivity of the Greek system as her major problem with the institution.
"What's really wrong with the CFS organizations is the power to reject," she said.
Though she said she is perhaps influenced by her personal experiences with sororities when she was an undergraduate, Ackerman feels that she would feel the same way about the Greek system regardless of her background.
"I was acutely aware of how that selectivity process worked," Ackerman, class of 1980, said. "But I think I would have come to the same conclusion whether I had been an undergraduate here or not."
Religion professor Kevin Reinhart also agreed with Ackerman's and Luxon's beliefs concerning the faculty vote.
"I think we're disappointed that the Trustees chose not to take seriously the emphatic wisdom of the faculty," he said.
"Bearing in mind that the faculty will be here the longest, it suggests that there may be a communication problem between the Trustees and the faculty," he said.
Reinhart said he was frustrated with the vagueness of the Trustees' statement, saying this is the third time since he has been at the College that a similarly vague initiative regarding the Greek system has been proposed.
Reinhart said he has not always been an opponent of the Greek system.
"When I came up here, my feeling was 'get off [the fraternities'] backs'," he said. Since then, he has to come to feel differently about the system.
"We don't control what the term fraternity means," he said. "A student that comes here thinks 'Animal House' or 'Revenge of the Nerds' -- what does the fraternity party signify?"
"The real question is this: is the fraternity system sufficiently in accord with the educational enterprise of the College?" Reinhart said.
Despite this, Reinhart said he is not against having noneducational social opportunities available for students.
"Nobody I know on the faculty is against students partying," he said. "We don't expect students to be sitting around drinking Pepsi."
Reinhart said he believes the problem is how structured the social system is at the College, saying that "when there is only one kind of activity, there is not a lot of diversity in the student social life."
"If the fraternities didn't have a monopoly, I think other social options would open up," he said.
Government professor Lynn Vavreck also acknowledged the need for student social options, but in contrast to Reinhart and others, she is not against the Greek system.
What Vavreck finds most intriguing about the Dartmouth Greek system is its openness, "I was very surprised to learn that fraternity parties are open to everyone."
Because of this, she said, "They function as a club or bar," social options that, unlike at urban schools, are unavailable at Dartmouth because of its location.
"I think we are kidding ourselves if we think that students don't want to go out and drink," she said.
"It's the same with the faculty. We don't want to have a dinner party in our offices," she said. "We want to go out to a restaurant for example."
Overall, Vavreck said she does not agree with the members of the faculty who voted against the Greek system in their February meeting which she was unable to attend.
"I don't share that opinion. I like the report," she said. "It still gives the students a lot of say in what Dartmouth will be like in the future."
She said the 83 faculty members present at the meeting in February comprise only about a third of the faculty and their vote is not necessarily representative of all members.
Vavreck said the Trustees' requirement that all CFS houses remove beer taps, end pledge periods and meet the standards of residence halls will make a difference in the system.
"I don't think it will be very easy for all of the organizations to meet these regulations," she said. She noted the potential high cost of renovating the houses, many of which are not handicap-accessible, as explanation for this.
"I don't think it's too lenient," Vavreck said.
Fellow government professor and director of the Rockefeller Center Linda Fowler agreed with Vavreck's statements.
"Raising the bar is good," Fowler said. "If it doesn't work, we can always revisit it."
"I have always felt that what we should be doing is finding out what is the underlying cause for the egregious behavior associated with the fraternities," Fowler said.
Fowler said when she taught at Syracuse University, which does not have a prevalent Greek system, she saw similar behavior in the residence halls.
"If we simply wave a wand and abolish the fraternities, we are not going to address the cause of this behavior," she said.
Fowler said she shares the frustration of the faculty with respect to the Greek system and recognizes a need for reform within the system but is still content with the Trustees' statement.
Unlike other faculty members that spoke with The Dartmouth yesterday, however, Fowler chose to focus on areas of the Trustees' statement dealing with social and residential life aspects other than the Greek system.
"I'm delighted to see that they've endorsed the idea of flexible, flat-floor social space," she said. "When I do programming at the Rockefeller Center, we don't always have a suitable space for all of the students who wish to participate."
Fowler also commended the Trustees for acknowledging the need for a reassessment of the D-plan, saying "I'm very aware of the constraints it puts on my teaching."
Reinhart told The Dartmouth he thinks examining the D-plan is a good idea as well.
Fowler said she was pleased to see an effort by the Trustees to involve more faculty in residential life issues.
Ackerman said she is happy the Trustees have committed to building new residence halls, though she said she does not think it was a surprising decision. Similar to Fowler and Reinhart, History professor Jere Daniell '55 said the freshest part of the statement is the idea of returning to a traditional school calendar.
Daniell also said another important idea is the Trustees' willingness to commit considerable funds to improving the social and residential life of the College.
Daniell declined to comment specifically about the section of the statement dealing with the Greek system but said, in general, people should be given a chance to improve and "folks that come to Dartmouth will learn to exist within the social structure, whatever it may be."
Daniell did say he felt "a return to a dimension of in loco parentis, which is, in a sense, old-fashioned."
Several faculty members declined to comment on the statement. Dean of Faculty Ed Berger was not available for comment.
