To the Editor:
The Dartmouth's recent article on the Alumni Council's efforts to support Greek Letter Organizations was excellent ("Alumni report addresses issues in Greek system," Sept. 27). Therefore, I was surprised that some readers suggested our efforts are intended to do away with fraternities and sororities. To the contrary, I have been on the board of my fraternity since the 1980s, fought efforts in 1999 to "end the Greek system as we know it," and view my fraternity experience as the highlight of my time at Dartmouth.
While the continued existence of the Greek system has been tenuous in the past, the evidence indicates it is secure in the present. President Jim Yong Kim has clearly and strongly indicated his support for the Greek system. In recent years, Dartmouth allowed three all-male fraternities that had been closed for disciplinary reasons to return to the College, provided housing for new sororities, and loaned $8,000,000 to individual houses for physical improvements.
Many houses, however, suffer from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. The system needs additional sororities with houses and to improve its image in some quarters. In short, the Greek system can benefit from alumni support, and many alumni who love the system would like to help.