Last semester, the The Dartmouth Editorial Board published an editorial in which it called on Dartmouth’s president and Board of Trustees to dissolve the college’s Greek system. A 2014 Bloomberg editorial similarly advocated for the abolition of campus fraternities, arguing that “fraternities are at odds with the mission of a college or university.” As more and more people express grievances with a Greek system they perceive to be irreparable, we will arrive at a point where we ask ourselves: is the Greek system really worth preserving? In view of the ills and controversies that surround many of our nation’s fraternities, is it worth it to continue to support a system that may be beyond repair?
The answer is yes, and I hope that my non-Greek affiliation will lend my argument greater legitimacy. I do not belong to a fraternity and maintain no personal stake in preserving the college fraternity. In fact, I have in the past penned columns concerning problems with our Inter-Fraternity Council organizations, which I felt promoted a culture that is unfriendly to women and minorities at the University. Looking back, I understand that I characterized fraternity brothers in unfair ways, offering offensive descriptions about fraternity men that impede an honest discussion about the purpose of a fraternity. Issues of racial and class homogeneity within our University’s fraternities do exist, but we cannot distill fraternities and their members into time-honored tropes about wealthy white preppiness and the “Animal House” ethos. When we reach the point where the abolition of fraternities becomes a serious discussion and not just a conversation on the fringe, we must choose to seek reforms instead of abolition, because the ideal college fraternity is worth pursuing.
The national conversation surrounding campus fraternities, wrapped in the mantle of elitism, neglects the benefits that our fraternities provide to their members and the University at large. For many people, participation in a fraternity provides them with opportunities for personal development and peer support. The fraternity as an ideal, rooted in shared values of brotherhood and character, is worth our pursuit. Hazing and other problems have not destroyed these values beyond recovery. Without mentioning particular organizations, there are fraternities around Grounds that maintain a reputation for moral rectitude, inclusivity and University involvement. There are fraternities that reject hazing, misbehavior and other problems associated with the modern fraternity. Due to the new Fraternal Organization Agreements, fraternities at our school have already taken initial steps to make Greek life safer by developing protocols that mandate sober brothers at parties and restrict the type of alcohol served. Abolition should never be the answer as long as there are certain groups who can demonstrate that they are capable of supporting these values and seeking reform when they stray from their ideals.
A significant amount of my friends have found their homes at the University through Greek life. Their fraternities have given them a sense of belonging within the larger community. Underclassmen in fraternities are connected to older students who serve as sources of support. There’s no denying fraternities have their share of problems at the University, such as elitism. But these can be rectified through solutions other than wiping out fraternities entirely. Such reforms may include expanding financial aid in our fraternities to better support socioeconomic diversity in Greek life.
Aside from ideological considerations, there are severe practical consequences that would result from an abolition of Greek life at the University. Anyone who seriously advocates for the abolition of our fraternities is just asking our University to be plunged into the red financially. I cannot find the relevant data concerning donations from Greek alumni, but given that so many of our alumni are Greek, I am confident that we would lose a significant amount of financial support from alumni if we were to put an end to fraternities. At a time when the University finds itself strapped for cash, why would anyone support a move that would risk alienating our strong alumni base? Additionally, there’s no reason to believe other groups and societies with their own problems would emerge if the University were to ban fraternities. In place of Harvard’s fraternities, societies called final clubs emerged with their own problems of exclusivity. The benefit of our system is that our Greek organizations are chartered by the University, which means the administration can push reforms more effectively. Abolition of fraternities should never be the answer, and when we reach the point where this becomes a question we ask ourselves, I hope that our community will understand that the ideal college fraternity is worth pursuing through reform.
Nazar Aljassar is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at n.aljassar@cavalierdaily.com.
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