Greek presidents' opinions varied about the effectiveness of the letter written by the presidents of the College's six largest sororities in response to the report issued last month by the Committee on Diversity and Community at Dartmouth.
Last week the presidents of Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Epsilon Kappa Theta, Kappa Delta Epsilon, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Delta sororities sent a letter highlighting their organizations' merits to several key administrators and members of CDCD.
The letter was written in response to CDCD's recommendation that the College immediately and thoroughly evaluate the Greek system.
The sorority presidents said they recognize flaws in the Greek system as a whole but noted the sororities have many positive aspects.
Some fraternity presidents said they think the letter will not influence the administration's actions.
"Unfortunately, I don't think the letter will have any effect on the College's evaluation of the Greek system," Gamma Delta Chi fraternity President Todd Brackett '95 said.
"The administration and the faculty refuse to listen to anything the Greeks say, whether they be in a sorority, fraternity or coed," he said.
"We all believe that we are banging our heads against a wall and that any response is in vain," Brackett said.
But other fraternity presidents were more optimistic.
"I wouldn't presume to speak for the College, but I would imagine that they will make a careful examination of the system as a whole," Zeta Psi fraternity President Kevin Rogers '95 said.
"I'm sure a responsible approach for reforming the Greek system will include a detailed appraisal of each house in an effort to target specific areas for improvement," Rogers said.
Psi Upsilon fraternity President Giano Cromley '95 also said he thinks the administration will listen to the sororities' letter.
Adriana McGrath '95, Sigma Delta sorority president, said she thinks the letter will help facilitate open communication between Greek leaders and the administration about the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority system.
College President James Freedman, Dean of the College Lee Pelton, Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco, Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders and members of CDCD received copies of the letter, dated Feb. 8.
McGrath said she and the other sorority presidents wrote the letter as representatives of their houses but had not consulted all the members of their organizations.
"Our job as presidents is to represent our group to the best of our ability. We're the link between the students and the administration," she said.
"We obviously can't talk to 230 members, so we tried to represent our houses as best we could," McGrath added.
Though the letter pointed to specific merits of the sororities, McGrath said the signers were not trying to distance their houses from the rest of the system.
Several fraternity presidents said they do not feel the letter was written to condemn the fraternities and coed houses.
"I don't think the sororities are trying to distance themselves from the rest of the CFS. I believe they are just trying to emphasize the beneficial role of their institutions," Rogers said.
Cromley said, "There are differences between fraternities and sororities and coeds, but we all have a certain shared common denominator."
"They're drawing a clear distinction," Cromley said. "They're not condemning the other groups. I'm sure they have no animosity toward the other two factions."
Cromley and Rogers said the fraternity presidents are unsure whether they will write a similar letter to administrators defending their houses.
Cromley said part of the problem in writing a letter is that the fraternity presidents do not meet on a regular basis like the sorority leaders, who get together once a week.
Beta Theta Pi fraternity President Casey Lipscom '95 and Theta Delta Chi fraternity President Peter Zern '95 said they did not want to comment because they had not yet read the letter.
