As a queer person, I had concerns about fitting into Dartmouth’s historically heteronormative social spaces. When you think of stereotypical Greek life, “inclusive” is not exactly the first word that comes to mind.
However, after rushing Sigma Delta sorority, I realized that Dartmouth’s “mainstream” Greek houses are somewhat different from the traditional Greek spaces you see in movies and in articles about Dartmouth’s past. Today, most Dartmouth Greek houses have queer affinity groups within them, providing members with another layer of community and fostering inclusivity.
For me — and many other queer people on campus — Greek life thus offers an opportunity to widen my networks and cement my sense of belonging regarding my sexuality on campus. In fact, I am currently serving as queer affinity chair for my sorority.
Like me, Sigma Delta sorority member Lexi Chelle ’25 has found that integrating her identity with her Greek life involvement through our queer affinity group has been a “very valuable experience.”
“Before rushing, I honestly felt like I didn’t know that many queer people on campus, but a lot of the upperclassmen I looked up to … were in Sigma Delt, and they were also queer,” Chelle said. “I [thought] that would be a great outlet and way for me to expand my social network of gay people on campus, and it ended up working out that way.”
Celebrating and accepting queerness extends beyond Sigma Delta. Sigma Nu fraternity member Ryan Hill ’27 also said the opportunity to expand his queer community was an important reason for joining his fraternity. Going into rush, Hill said he felt that he did not fit the “image of a frat guy” and was apprehensive about how his sexuality would be received by members of Greek houses. During rush, he questioned whether he could be his authentic self, he said.
“Can I be flamboyant or feminine? Is that going to get me docked in the eyes of some brothers?” he asked.
Ultimately, Hill realized that “the differences” among members were “really appreciated” in Sigma Nu.
“One of the reasons I rushed Sig Nu was because it had gay members, and I knew that going into it I would make other queer connections,” Hill added.
Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity member Alan Hatch ’25 explained that his fraternity provided him the opportunity “to be affiliated and also to be yourself.”
“I’m lucky that Alpha Chi has been a space where people are super open and accepting,” Hatch said. “As soon as I started meeting people and getting involved, there was never a doubt in my mind that I couldn’t just be myself.”
According to Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority member Kate Clark ’25, some queer students looking to further integrate into Dartmouth’s queer community find it reassuring to know which houses have large LGBTQ+ communities during rush. Clark said this factor was important in her own rush process.
“I rushed knowing that KDE was a place that I knew of specific [queer] people, but could also find other queer people there right away,” Clark said. “It was a place where during rush conversations, I was able to talk about queerness.”
Clark’s sense of acceptance stayed true after becoming a member of KDE and joining its queer affinity group — which she said is “recognized in the house and not ostracized.”
Similarly, Sigma Delta sorority vice president Haley Banta ’25 said her house allows queer members to celebrate their sexuality while also feeling like a part of the house as a whole.
“I rushed to be a part of the Sigma Delt community at large and then was also able to have this smaller community that is really special to me on top of that,” Banta said. “Everyone is well integrated in the house and participates in all the rest of the Sigma Delt events just as wholeheartedly.”
According to Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity member Logan Pack ’27, creating spaces where LGBTQ+ members can embrace their sexuality while simultaneously feeling integrated into the house is essential to making Greek spaces inclusive. Pack said he appreciates the “security and inclusion” that comes with sharing a common identity with some of his fraternity brothers.
“Our motto is ‘come as you are,’ and that’s something the house really embraces,” Pack said. “... Just accepting everyone for all their different backgrounds, supporting each other and creating a brotherhood.”
In addition to providing an extra community, many of the queer affinity groups in Greek houses plan activities — from casual movie nights to dinners and sometimes campus-wide events. Chelle fondly described one of Sigma Delt’s events, a dinner called “Gaybatchi.”
“Once a term we go to Koto, the Hibachi place in West Lebanon,” she explained. “We all go around the table and introduce ourselves and have a fun gay opening question like, ‘Who was your gay awakening?’ and then people share fun stories of how they realized they were into women. … I feel it’s a really great way to connect with other people — it’s a very valuable experience and also very reaffirming.”
Fostering a sense of belonging can also be as simple as having an active group chat to talk about being gay in an otherwise largely heteronormative environment, according to Hatch.
“We have a group chat … specific to our queer group of Alpha Chi, and it’s a pretty tight-knit group,” Hatch said. “We like to do Han [Fusion] dinners every now and then, [and] we also do movie nights sometimes. In the fall we were doing it every week.”
According to Banta, the “bummer” about Greek affinity groups is that you must be affiliated to join. However, she noted that Sigma Delt welcomes the broader queer community by hosting “Queer Tails,” a campus-wide party intended to foster a sense of queer community at Dartmouth, usually held in the winter term.
Especially for freshmen — who are unable to rush until sophomore fall — finding queer community at Dartmouth can be difficult, and Banta hopes that Queer Tails can serve as an opportunity to bridge that gap.
“I went my freshman year when it was open to campus, and I was so excited,” she recalled. “Since being [vice president of Sigma Delta], it’s been really important to me to keep doing that. … [Being involved] has been so much more special than ever attending because it feels like I can play a role in creating a queer space at Dartmouth.”
Though the queer community has historically been underrepresented in Greek spaces, Dartmouth’s houses are increasing representation at a fast pace. According to Clark, in just the last three years of her involvement, membership in KDE’s LGBTQ+ affinity group has doubled.
“The formal events, [group chats] and consistent organizing within sororities for queer groups is something that has happened quite recently,” she said.
Though far from perfect, mainstream Greek houses have made clear efforts to be inclusive of all sexualities. At a school dominated by Greek life, I have found that queer members promote community and shape the culture of their houses, inspiring me to do the same as this term’s queer affinity chair for Sigma Delt. By championing inclusivity, we are able to continually improve the culture in Greek life — making it not only welcoming but also additive to queer peoples’ experiences on campus.
Haley Banta ’25 is a writer for The Dartmouth. She was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
