In 1966, former Dean of the Tucker Foundation Richard Unsworth so eloquently referred to Dartmouth fraternities as "a patch of social dry rot exposed to view." While his statement may be an exaggeration, there is no doubt that since 1841, the year in which the first frat came to Dartmouth, our fraternities have been getting in trouble for everything from alcohol-related incidents to arson.
One of the first major crackdowns against the Dartmouth fraternity system occurred in 1942 because of alcohol-related instances and noise complaints. Walter Powers '43, then-president of the Interfraternity Council, announced that all houses were to be "semi-closed," allowing only brothers in the houses on Saturday nights in order to cut down on students who had "formed a habit of going from house to house without any special invitation," according to a 1942 article published in The Dartmouth.
Throughout Dartmouth's lengthy history of underage drinking, there have been many instances of fraternity closures or probations due to alcohol related incidents. In 2004, Bones Gate fraternity was found guilty of harassment, providing alcohol to an underage student and possession of drug paraphernalia, leading to a six-week probation, the longest ever recorded at that time.
Nowadays, most fraternities limit the amount of hard alcohol they serve to visitors. For example, Theta Delta Chi fraternity's current probation, which started in late November, will continue through Winter Carnival until Feb. 17. The fraternity received an infraction due to illicit social functions during sophomore Summer and hazing violations from the fall, according to Theta Delt President Will Mueller '12.
"Our approach was to minimize the risk," Mueller said. "What we can do is prevent people from getting intoxicated at our house."
Mueller said, however, that he does not necessarily believe that the probation will have the College's intended effect.
"The College is going to force people to go off campus for alcohol, which is a lot more dangerous," he said. "Fraternities don't serve hard alcohol, so they are often a way safer place to party."
Other hot button issues that have led to fraternity probations and derecognitions include hazing, racial slurs and inappropriate sexual incidents. One of the most famous instances of derecognition was that of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, which was kicked off campus from 1996 until 2010, when it reemerged as the current Beta Alpha Omega fraternity.
"Beta's history is not the most stellar," Tyler Frisbee '08, a former member of Beta, said. "I think there's a lot of concern about addressing past racist, homophobic and sexist behavior."
The fraternity's string of notorious infractions ultimately came back to haunt its members when Dartmouth officially removed them from the College in 1996. In 1991, Beta was derecognized for three terms after 10 Beta brothers abducted and tormented a member of Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity. During the summer of 1995, the College condemned, but did not sanction, Beta after the discovery of a racist and sexist poem that was allegedly read aloud at one of the fraternity's weekly meetings.
"I think that there will never again be a Beta at Dartmouth that is allowed to have the poor behavior record that this chapter has had over the past seven years or so," Jack Burnett '71, president of the Board of Trustees of Beta's Dartmouth chapter, previously said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "Betas across the country and around the world are happy to say good riddance to that."
Beta's derecognition was not the first and likely won't be the last. The College derecognized Phi Delta Alpha fraternity in 2000 and later re-recognized it in 2004. The fraternity was accused of serving alcohol to underage students, tolerating drug use, "dirty rushing," providing false information to the College about rush and failing to take action when four of its members broke into Chi Gam, stole property and started a fire in December 1999.
Zeta Psi fraternity was also permanently derecognized in 2001 after two issues of "The Zetemouth," an internal newsletter detailing the sexual exploits of various brothers and other Dartmouth students, were made public. The "permanent" derecognition was clearly not so permanent, however, as Zete returned to the College as a colony in the fall 2009 and finally regained its original status in fall 2011.
T. Clark Weymouth '79, president of Zete's alumni association, said the College's initial decision was unwarranted.
"The College has not fairly characterized what the offending newsletter was about," he said. "A couple of Zete brothers created a newsletter with some offensive material, but anyone who looked at it would see that it was supposed to be satirical and humorous. It was a very poor attempt at humor and not a date rape handbook."
It is evident that our fraternities here at Dartmouth have participated in some heinous activity, but does the punishment always fit the crime? You've heard all the facts, now it's time to judge for yourself!
