There is a simple fact of life that many people at Dartmouth are wont to remember: Money gets things done. Indeed, this aphorism can be extended to the world at large; my friend Steph has a golden rule: "The one with the gold makes the rules." This monetary maxim even applies to the recent controversy regarding parity of gendered social space.
Some allege that Beta Theta Pi's alumni bought Beta's path to re-recognition while the College marginalized Alpha Xi Delta by exiling it to the edge of campus. I agree. Many fault the College for this debacle, but consider its reasoning.
The question comes down to what is best for the majority of students -- real money that will pay new professors, create more class space, build better facilities and initiate new programs? Or achieving an idealistic equality among social spaces? It is obviously the former.
Do not twist my words; I am not saying that the women on campus do not deserve an equal footing in the social scene. If faced with choosing education or social scene, however, the College should focus on the former.
No, the College should not allow misogynistic alumni to "buy out" sororities or accept funds for shutting down sororities. Idealistically, the College would cough up the money and find somewhere more convenient on its 269 acres to build some new sorority houses, but even here in our Ivy towers, it is an unrealistic expectation.
The College must face the realities of operating above the bottom line. It's hard to argue that an equalized social scene should be more important to an educational institution than free capital.
A similar situation recently evolved within the College's administration. The Trustees' move to increase the number of unelected seats ensures that they are able to reward the largest donors to the College. Just as the College can sell its trustee positions, it can also sell the right to Greek recognition.
This is not to say that the inequality in gendered social spaces will not or cannot be fixed. Only glacial market forces will cure sororities' ills, not angry students. Beta has 106 years of history and 1200 alumni behind it. As a result, they own their own land. AZD has just 10 years of alumnae.
In addition, women at Dartmouth only have 35 years of history. This means that many of Dartmouth's female graduates are just peaking in their financial lives. Most alumnae have just begun to earn enough to donate large sums in significant numbers.
While the fraternity system at Dartmouth has lots of rich alumni, the sorority system does not -- at least not yet.
Over the next 20 years as the proportion of female alumnae moves towards the proportion of female undergraduates, donations will come and sororities will be able to purchase their own houses. Money will still run things on frat row.
While this seems to be a distant prospect, there is an opportunity for change now. Marching around demanding change and signing petitions won't do it. Much the same way a politician can run on change but ultimately needs a plan to realize it, we can demand gender parity but we need the money.
What the current students at Dartmouth need in order to create and maintain a balanced social scene is dedicated funds from alumni for the purchase and establishment of local sororities. The College has already proven money's influence. Any unrecognized local sorority will be as dangerous a place as an unrecognized fraternity. The College will be forced to include them, too.
Ideally those alumni who believe in the cause and have the money to donate will do so. Don't make the Daughters of Dartmouth suffer 20 more years of waiting. Start tying pro-sorority strings to your checks now.
And for you students, aim your pleas to Dartmouth's alumni, not its administration.
