From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Newsgroups: soc.college
Subject: Re: Freedom of Association
Keywords: fraternities sororities eating clubs
Date: 13 Dec 92 16:03:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: midway.1992Dec13.160352.9522
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

In article <1992Dec13.140009.2897@Princeton.EDU> grweiss@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Gregory Robert Weiss) writes:
>Here's my point: As the last two self-selecting, single-sex eating clubs have 
>gone co-ed in the three years I've been here, there has been a *dramatic*
>rise in fraternal activity.  The number of students has risen by a factor
>of 5, at least.  From what I can tell, when you reduce the opportunities
>for single-sex social gatherings, the students will just go underground or
>some place off-campus where the university has no control over them.

I'm curious whether the nationals are doing anything to support this,
or whether it's completely student organized.

Brandeis was completely without single-sex social organizations from its
founding until 1986, and any underground fraternity or sorority that didn't
have extensive support from a national wanting desperately to have a 
chapter at Brandeis fell apart within a year.  The University of Chicago
went for quite some time without fraternities, with no appreciable loss
in flavor.

The number of opportunities for single-race social gatherings has dropped
to near-zero at most colleges -- as it's become unacceptable to discriminate
based on race, fraternities just went along with it, and I don't particularly
know of any all-white underground fraternities, or of any students who want
to join one. 

>Perhaps greek organizations would improve if they went co-ed, but 
>what makes you think that such activities that you object to would not
>simply go elsewhere, as noted above, or to groups such as single-sex sports
>teams?  

Sports teams have limited memberships, and, at any rate, are supposedly
meritocratic organizations that are ostensibly under the responsibility,
if not control, of a faculty member.

As for going elsewhere, I think that the frats won't have anywhere to go
once you change the baseline.  Right now the default is "single sex frats
okay", just as the default 30-40 years ago was "single race frats okay."
If you start operating from the baseline of "single sex frats are wrong for
the same reason single race frats are wrong", the nationals will either
adapt or go under, the co-ed fraternities will be better organized and
better-run than the single-sex fraternities, and students of the future
won't even consider joining the ss frats.

>I'm for the expansion of co-ed groups, but I'm pretty wary of the
>frequent "unintended consequences" that arise when society or groups in
>society attempt to impose their will on others.  What do think will happen
>to students who wish to be in the current type of fraternity/sorority 
>if fraternities and sororities go co-ed?

You're assuming, I suspect, that the attitudes of the student body are
inflexible.  Five years after the change, there won't be a student on
campus who knew of any other way of life other than co-ed frats.
-- 
ted frank                     | thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu 
standard disclaimers          | void where prohibited
the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
Newsgroups: soc.college