Should Greek Houses All Go Coed?: No
By Jack Boger, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Friday, September 21, 2012
Dartmouth’s Greek tradition is a long and proud one, stretching all the way back to the 19th century. These venerable institutions have, by and large, weathered the tests of time and provided thousands of Dartmouth students with wonderful memories and lasting friendships. For some, however, the Greek system appears to be a hopeless anachronism more suited for its Victorian origins than the 21st century. This belief is rooted in the single-sex nature of Greek houses and their perpetuation of what some see as an unfair and unequal social system. These campaigners would seek to transform the system by mandating that organizations become fully coeducational, shifting from fraternities and sororities toward a new social model. But by becoming coed, the problems cited by critics of the Greek system — chiefly binge drinking, hazing and sexual assault — are unlikely to be greatly affected, while the positive aspects of single-sex organizations will be lost.
It shouldn’t be surprising that people seek out opportunities to join groups and feel accepted. We are social creatures and have been doing so since the first cavemen started grunting at each other over a fire. Different social organizations serve various purposes, and on college campuses, fraternities and sororities exist in large part because they offer college kids a fun social outlet and a new group of friends that can provide support and guidance. The shared experience of a single-sex Greek house bonds members and creates friendships in ways that coed houses might not.
“There’s something special about developing a bond within a house, and it seems like both genders develop unique friendships within that,” Cole Adams ’13 said, Inter-Fraternity Council rush chair and social chair of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, said. “You can just relate on different levels.”
He noted that many students rush Greek houses because of the positive experiences their parents had in them.
“To this day, many of my dad’s best friends are his fraternity brothers, and I expect it will be the same for me when I’m his age,” he said.
The sorority experience can also provide a similarly fulfilling experience.
“My sorority has been one of my most valuable experiences at Dartmouth,” Olivia Kent ’13 said, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. “It has provided me with a wonderful system of support. I think having a space for girls to come to that’s completely their own allows for a sense of comfort, safety and community where you can be yourself and feel accepted for that. It’s very different from a dorm or classroom setting.”
Perhaps the key argument against forcing single-sex houses to become coed is the freedom of association. Students should be allowed to make their own decisions about who and where they spend their free time. Furthermore, coed Greek houses already exist for those who seek them, and virtually every extracurricular activity and club on campus is open to both men and women. Fraternities and sororities remain the few exceptions to this rule, and while some would argue that they follow an outdated model, the single-sex nature of the Greek system is actually one of its greatest virtues.
“It is important to separate sometimes, especially for women, and let people be themselves,” Ginny Miller ’13, a member of Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, said. “There are so many opportunities at Dartmouth that are coed that fraternities and sororities are the only time you’re in a single-sex environment.”
The Greek system should not stay ossified in all of its old ways. All organizations should be willing to change in accordance with the times. The Greek system and its members would benefit from thoughtful reform, especially if it would create more equitable social spaces. The policies of national sororities that limit their ability to hold events with alcohol shifts a great deal of social power toward the fraternities, an imbalance that should be corrected. With an open attitude to change but maintenance of its core values, the Dartmouth Greek system can and should remain (mostly) single-sex for centuries to come.
“There are so many opportunities at Dartmouth that are coed that fraternities and sororities are the only time you’re in a single-sex environment.”
False. Single-sex sports teams. Single-sex acapella groups.
By Anon on Sep 21 | 9:16 am
“We are social creatures and have been doing so since the first cavemen started grunting at each other over a fire.”
Some things haven’t changed at all.
By Anonymous on Sep 21 | 2:59 pm
Yep really representative view here. The only girls whose comments are on here are the ones who belong to sororities already buying into the male dominated social scene here, and “winning”. One guy, who just happens to be the IFC rush chair and an exec on a frat, gets his voice printed here. Yep, your opinion is about as well supported, with diverse perspectives, as can be.
Good job!!
By Anonymz on Sep 21 | 3:13 pm
Anonymz, this was an opinion piece- he wasn’t trying to capture anything close to a full spectrum of opinion but rather making an argument. Good to see you’re reading the material closely though!
By Anonymz2 on Sep 21 | 4:54 pm
Dartmouth has never (well, at least for the last 40 or 50 years) tried to find out what the majority of students think. It is too much work to do that. And what if the answers don’t fit? Get a few quotes from the usual suspects and the issue has been handled. The fraternity voice drives the alumni fund. That’s still important. As inept as the current administration is, they are able to recognize that it is important to continue to play this cosy little game. It can’t last.
By DartBored on Sep 21 | 7:32 pm
This is really dumb. Shows a complete lack of thoughtfulness on the issue. Reads like propaganda. The quotes are bland and inane.
I’d have expected Jack and Cole and Ginny and Olivia to have more nuanced points of view at this point in their Dartmouth careers. To just say that Greek life is wonderful because girls need time alone together and boys need their time alone together la-dee-da-da makes you all sound like characters straight out of The Stepford Wives.
By ‘13 who’s seen it all on Sep 21 | 7:52 pm
I’m not gonna pretend I’m not biased here, but really, is this is the best defense that can be mustered up for the greek system? The author only says one thing that can be used a defense of the status quo and that is this nebulous and, I would hope, outdated idea of the special bonds that they only form between members of the same sex. He of course has no measurable way to show that his claim is true and that members of the coeds don’t have equally strong bonds with each other despite gender difference, because of course it obviously is not true. Everyone should also be skeptical of this insipid idea that men and women can only be their “true selves” in single-sex environments. When the vast majority of our lives developing and living in coed environments this argument seems hopelessly unrealistic. And while I’ll concede that it is a good thing for women to have their own spaces, it is only a necessary counter to the existence of frats which provide an institutional setting for sexual predation.
By Brian Giunta on Sep 21 | 9:25 pm
I can vouch for the sentiment expressed by Cole Adams' father, who is likely my near contemporary. More than 30 years after my own experience in Dartmouth’s Greek system, some of my best friends are to this day my fraternity brothers.
I can, however, also vouch for the fact that this very positive aspect of the Greek system would not be affected by coeducation. Some of my best friends are in fact my male and female brothers of Phi Tau Coed Fraternity.
Now as to the question at hand, when I was an undergraduate I did not favor forcing all single-sex houses to go coed, and I do not today.
I do think it would be a very positive thing if more of Dartmouth’s students and Greek houses chose to go the coed route. While I have no experience as a brother of an all-male house to compare it to, I count my experience in a coed fraternity as an enormous positive. I believe, also, that it would be beneficial to Mr. Adams, to Mr. Boger, and all their peers to open up a bit more to the possibility of bonding for long-lasting friendship with both male and female Greek housemates. That, however is a choice that they must make willingly.
The history of coed Greek organizations at the College is filled with ample evidence that making the transition to being a coed Greek organization presents some unique challenges that can take years to get through. Succeeding beyond the transition as a coed Greek organization for the long term is also no easy task. I do recommend it highly for those of you who are up to it, but a forced transition for unwilling participants would be unwise.
By Richard Schwartz ‘82 on Sep 24 | 12:09 pm
I agree that it doesn’t make sense to force selective admissions Greek Houses to become co-ed. Why should any select admissions organization be forced to select a certain group of people? The administration would be saying effectively, to these groups, feel free to exclude or include anyone you want as long as you include both men and women without prejudice.
Currently, Co-ed houses are if anything more restrictive than normal Greek Houses because they are dominated by subcultures that appeal to a very small minority of Dartmouth students, male or female. Phi Tau and the others have events that most people simply do not want to attend. The Greek Houses at least are popular.
Furthermore, Co-eds are not less dangerous than single sex Greek Houses. Alcoholism, drug use, depression are just as if not more common there than at Greeks. It won’t make the campus safer or healthier to force everyone to adopt the same ethos.
Why allow select admissions Greek Organizations at all? With the Administration’s approval, they permanently solidify a bizarre class dynamic that actively harms many students – either those marginalized or temporarily lauded – and split the campus up along intractable social barriers. If it were removed, people would still be able to hang out where they wanted, and have the friends they wanted, but basic access to most social venues where people congregate wouldn’t be limited to a select set of students.
All the other Ivies have marginal Greek life. Greek Houses are anachronisms, created before the college went co-ed.
I actually agree with this article on principle, but it’s not the right discussion to be having if Dartmouth’s social scene is to actually change for everyone’s benefit.
By ‘14 on Sep 26 | 1:06 pm