GREEK life on college campuses has always been controversial. The misconception that the only purpose of these social clubs is to provide a forum for excessive drinking and sexual promiscuity has long cast question upon the idea of fraternities and sororities being supported by learning institutions such as the University. Though dissent from a minority of highly vocal naysayers has always been present on college campuses, most of the time a school's administration keeps its distance from this debate.
However, in reaction to a declining national membership rate in Greek organizations, Santa Clara University in California passed measures last month to slowly phase out the Greek system, ending all support for it by the year 2003. Similarly, the prominent Dartmouth College is currently engaged in a campaign that may abolish Greek life on its campus as well. Justifications for the implementation of such policies are very weak, and the measures taken to eliminate Greek life on these college campuses are misguided, unfair and deserve to be reversed and/or abandoned immediately.
At Santa Clara University in California, less than ten percent of the student population is formally engaged in Greek organizations. According to the school's administration, this percentage is too small to be worthy of the "efforts and resources" that the Greek system requires to remain in operation. On this basis, a plan has been introduced to eliminate rush and thus slowly kill off the school's fraternities and sororities as old members graduate and new ones are denied the chance to replace them.
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This justification for the abolition of these groups is interesting for two reasons. First and foremost, what exactly are these "resources" that are referenced by the administration? Fraternities and sororities are usually financially independent of their universities, and mysteriously absent in the committee report on this decision in Santa Clara was the specific nature of these "resources." In a misguided attempt to rationalize the abolition of Greek organizations, Dartmouth notes its lack of student "social and recreational facilities" which might encourage a "more healthy" form of social interaction. This, however, can in no way be connected to the Greek system -- it is merely a shortcoming of the university itself -- and to penalize an unrelated group for the school's own inadequacies is blatantly unfair and highly illogical.
Secondly, Dartmouth and Santa Clara state that by eliminating Greek life, they hope to encourage a departure from the exclusivity of fraternal organizations and create a more unified atmosphere on their campuses. Now, either the administrations of these schools are hoping to dupe their students into supporting their plans by feeding them obviously unreachable ideals, or their personal naivete is embarrassing. The fact is that whether or not people have formal ways of separating themselves, they are undeniably going to do it.
Think about your high school. There were no fraternities there, surely this did not make social lines any less apparent. And what about the world outside the isolated community that we call U.Va.? Would anyone claim that there is not a blatant set of status symbols that make flagrantly evident the existence of a social hierarchy?
Finally, Dartmouth has claimed that the abolition of fraternities and sororities will "eliminate alcohol abuse on campus". This is absurd. Would anyone in his or her right mind claim that if Greek life were to be abolished at U.Va. tomorrow, that excessive alcohol consumption would cease? A more accurate prediction might be that students would get trashed and storm the Dean's office in an angry mob.
Afterward, since this would doubtlessly do little to aid their situation, students would begin -- rather than drinking excessively in fraternity houses -- to drink excessively in their dorms and apartments. By abolishing Greek life, a university would succeed only in making life less enjoyable, appeasing a bitter minority of flyer printing Greek-haters, and freeing Escort service from the less than desirable task of transporting belligerent first years three nights out of the week. No authority-imposed restriction is strong enough to counter the overwhelming desire of many college students to party.
One would think that individuals intelligent enough to be managing Ivy League schools would be able to see and accept this - usually -- relatively harmless reality.
It's unfair for colleges and universities such as Santa Clara and Dartmouth to take steps to abolish Greek life on their campuses. This is disrespectful to current students and alumni who feel strong personal ties to their organizations, and unfair in that the schools themselves have little involvement in their structuring and funding. Greek may not be the choice lifestyle of all college students, but the same can be said for any student association. Fraternities and sororities should not be singled out and penalized for their affiliation with social elements that would be present on college campuses even in the absence of Greek life.
(Laura Parcells is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer.)
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