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The Dartmouth
July 10, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

GLBT students voice mixed views of frats

As heterosexual men and their dates looked on, Cody Lavender '10 and a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students took over the platform in the center of Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity's dance floor at a recent dance party.

"We purposefully create our own space," said Lavender, co-chair of Gender, Sexuality, XYZ, formerly known as the Gay Straight Alliance. "Other than that, I wouldn't go to Tri-Kap unless I knew there were going to be a lot of queer people there."

Within the College's social sphere, Lavender and other members of the GLBT community are trying to determine where they fit in Dartmouth's Greek system. Fraternities are making an effort to welcome them, representatives of Greek organizations told The Dartmouth.

In the past, social ostracism of GLBT students has been a point of criticism of the College. In 1999, Metrosource Magazine declared Dartmouth a "Questionable School for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Students."

The same year, a student told The Dartmouth she believed the campus was "blatantly hostile" towards the GLBT community.

Students interviewed recently by The Dartmouth claimed the campus was more welcoming to GLBT students than it appeared to be nearly ten years ago, but acknowledged that some acts of "blatant hostility" continue to arise on campus.

Over Green Key weekend in 2007, three gay members of The Tabard coed fraternity spotted a man at Gamma Delta Chi fraternity wearing only boxer shorts and throwing full beer cans at The Tabard's house, according to a gay member of the Class of 2009 and a member of Tabard who was involved in the altercation. When the members of The Tabard confronted the perpetrator and threatened to call the police, the man allegedly retorted, "Shut up, faggot!"

The members of Tabard then told the offender that his response rendered his actions a hate crime, to which he allegedly insisted he "wasn't a racist." Before the quarrel escalated, a member of Gamma Delt came out of the fraternity's house to apologize for the other member's actions. Neither The Tabard nor its members filed complaints with the College or the police.

This event mirrors an incident that occurred more than four years prior when a member of Alpha Delta fraternity allegedly yelled "faggot" from the fraternity's porch at a gay student walking towards Alumni Gym. Following the incident, the "gay community was up in arms," according to a gay student who wished to remain anonymous. AD responded by hosting the panel discussion "Don't Yell 'Fag' From the Front Porch," in which GLBT students spoke about their experience with Dartmouth's Greek system. AD has hosted the panel annually ever since.

Most recently, students have expressed concern about the return of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The fraternity was permanently derecognized by the College in 1996 following a number of policy violations, including an incident in which a member of the fraternity allegedly yelled racist and homophobic epithets at a member of The Tabard, The Dartmouth reported that year.

"That the College could sanction [Beta] coming back shows a complete disregard for the welfare of its student body," Aurora Wells '10, who identifies herself as queer, said. "A house that is so flagrantly homophobic and sexist and racist -- the symbolism involved in re-sanctioning that house is incredibly scary for the GLBT community at Dartmouth."

Fraternities currently on campus have tried to provide a comfortable environment for GLBT students, according to representatives from different organizations.

Theta Delta Chi fraternity -- which one gay student who wished to remain anonymous said has allowed "homophobic slurs or just not been willing to have GLBT people over" -- has, according to Theta Delt member Tanner Tananbaum '10, made an effort to ensure the comfort of all its members.

"If [one] person is put into an uncomfortable position or feels alienated, that will be seen by other brothers in the house," Tananbaum said. "One brother shouldn't take away from the goal of the house to be open to the Dartmouth community."

Theta Delt is a co-sponsor of this year's Pride Week, Tananbaum said, a series of events hosted by Gender, Sexuality, XYZ intended to raise awareness about the current and past experiences of the GLBT community at Dartmouth.

Ensuring that GLBT students feel comfortable within fraternities is the responsibility of each individual, Tananbaum said.

"We can't control what every person says, but we can make an attempt to make sure that this person understands that in the future that's not going to be tolerated, accepted," he added. "That's not indicative of what we're trying to stand for as a house."

Still, other students have pointed to a "hetero-normative" attitude on campus, indicating that fraternity life has historically been a place for athletic, "tough" men.

"There's this myth of what a Dartmouth guy is supposed to be like," Raymond Rodriguez '09, a gay member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, said. "It's a little harder for guys to be 'out' in a house because of the way gender dynamics work and what is considered to be masculine and what is the innate nature of what guys tend to do."

Gay members of a number of fraternities said their houses have made efforts to make them feel comfortable.

Taylor '09, a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity who identified only his first name to maintain privacy, said his brotherhood has tried to remain sensitive to issues of sexuality.

"It was weird having everyone be like, 'Is this okay?'" Taylor said. "Stepping on my toes trying not to step on my toes."

Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity has been open to discussion of GLBT issues, according to Will Winkelman '09, a gay student and a social chair of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity. Although GLBT students rarely spend time in his fraternity, Winkelman does not believe anyone would feel uncomfortable in the house, he said.

"In the house a lot of things are kept very lighthearted -- people will joke about it or joke about different things," Winkelman said. "It's not like any one group is made fun of."

When deciding to join a fraternity, most students -- including members of the GLBT community -- tend to choose organizations where they feel most comfortable, both Tananbaum and Winkelman said.

"You might be the only 'out' person in a house, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the only way you identify yourself," Tananbaum said. "You're in the house because you have friends in the pledge class you want to be with."

Claims that any one Greek organization is a homophobic house are often untrue, and can only be known for sure once someone "experiences" the house for themselves, Taylor said.

"You can rush other fraternities," he said, referring to gay male students, "because if someone can be 'out' at Psi U, someone can be 'out' most places."

It is easier for students to openly identify as gay if other students in their organization have already done the same, according to Taylor.

"[On] my sports team there was a gay guy while I was a freshman," he said. "Being part of whatever group you are, it's harder if there's not a precedent."

Unaffiliated GLBT students have felt varying degrees of comfort in different fraternities, they said.

Wells said she has found the Greek system unwelcoming as both a woman and a queer woman.

"I don't really see an open environment being facilitated by the Greek system as it stands now," Wells said of the College's fraternities. "It's intrinsically biased, binary, and it's intrinsically sexist and homophobic and totally outdated and needs to go."

Winkelman, too, has felt uncomfortable in fraternities other than his own, he said, but for reasons other than his sexual orientation.

"A lot of it is just because you don't know the people," he said.

Tananbaum said he remains optimistic about the future of fraternities' relationships with the GLBT community.

"Where it's gone in the last five years and where it's going seem to be very positive," Tananbaum said. "Especially when you look at the composition of pledge classes from now and ten years ago. People are pledging with friends from all communities ... It's not the restrictive selection of the most masculine on campus."

Representatives from Kappa Kappa Kappa, Alpha Phi Alpha and Bones Gate fraternities declined to comment on the topic.

Representatives of Phi Delta Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Nu fraternities did not respond to The Dartmouth's several attempts to contact them.

Chase Carpenter '08, former president of Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity, declined to comment except to state that, "Chi Gam is open and tries to provide an enjoyable and safe atmosphere for all students."