Dartblog

So, according to The D, the sorority leaders in the Panhellenic Council have chosen not to endorse the idea of authorizing an additional sorority. Some facts:

● 413 girls entered rush last month; only 280 had bids by the end; almost one third of participants did not find a house;

● Some Dartmouth sororities have as many as 150 members; there are currently 15 frats and only eight sororities on campus — though about as many men and women are Greeks;

● Students endlessly — at the very least since I was a student in the 1970’s — lament the need for more student-controlled spaces and the need to break the fraternities’ quasi-monopoly on serving alcohol.

And yet the sisters voted no because:

● Some presidents did not want competition in filling their pledge class; an additional house would complicate an already busy rush schedule;

● Others did not see a group already in place that could form a new house;

● Some felt that present Greek institutions should be reformed before new ones are allowed on campus;

● And other presidents wanted greater efforts to support unaffiliated students;

Geez, this is how Washington works these days, too. Petty politicians advance their own conflicting, limited agendas; the end result is gridlock, and our problems continue. The nation loses.

Dartblog has long supported the creation of additional sororities, among other measures, to counterbalance the frats’ control of social life. The predominance of fraternities is corrupting for everyone involved, even the brothers; it furthers the excesses that harm students and the College’s reputation.

The only way to change this long-enduring state of affairs is by allowing structural change: competitive alternatives like local sororities that can serve alcohol and provide, one hopes, a safer, supportive environment for all students. Until then, the Greek system will lurch from crisis to crisis, as it has for many decades.

The discussion we should be having would involve authorizing at least four or five more sororities, perhaps by splitting in two some of the current mega-houses. Then the College could finance with cheap loans the construction of a Sorority Row, perhaps on Park Street. Why do we just nibble at the edge of the current problem? Oh, I remember now. We have no leadership.