Phi Sig Goes Local

THE Dartmouth College chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity last month severed all connection with its national

organization, stating, "It is incongruous for any organization founded on brotherhood to sanction discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or creed." The fraternity has been reorganized on a local basis under the name Phi Tau Fraternity at Dartmouth College, with approval of the chapter's alumni corporation.

In a formal statement released on April 16, the members of the fraternity said:

We, the brothers of Tau Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa, feel compelled to state our beliefs concerning brotherhood and fraternity life as we find them at Dartmouth College. We believe:

(1) That it is incongruous for any organization founded on brotherhood to sanction discrimination on the grounds of race, color or creed. Discriminatory clauses, whether written or unwritten, excluding members on these grounds, are inconsistent with the principles of American democracy and with the principles of Dartmouth College, and we therefore cannot uphold any organization which subscribes to these clauses.

(2) That our primary allegiance as a College-recognized organization is to Dartmouth, and that affiliation with a national organization is not necessary for the successful existence of a fraternity on this campus. We believe that we must stand by the decision of the students of the College to abolish racial and religious discrimination in Dartmouth fraternities. Dartmouth College has no restrictions upon race, color or creed, and we firmly believe that membership in our fraternity should depend only upon the person and his individual merits and should not be restricted by any clause to which we cannot subscribe.

(3) That our national fraternity ties impose a financial burden upon the brothers which is incommensurate with the benefit received.

We strongly disagree with the resolution passed at the 1952 Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania, Convention of the National Fraternity, which prevents the pledging and initiation of Negroes into Phi Sigma Kappa. Although the Dartmouth College Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa has to date abided by the membership regulations as set by the National Fraternity, in keeping with our stated principles we no longer feel that we can abide by these restrictions with a clear conscience. We are also aware that the principles of the National Fraternity are in conflict with the objectives and policies of the Dartmouth student body in its referendum on fraternity discrimination. Finally, we feel that our regular financial obligation to the National Fraternity is unduly burdensome, and that the benefits of national affiliation are negligible. We have concluded that our beliefs as to brotherhood and as to fraternity life as enumerated at the beginning of this statement are not those which are shared by our National Fraternity.

Ronald G. Read '57 of Dearborn, Mich., president of the new Phi Tau fraternity, said the action was not the result of the fraternity's desire to pledge any particular individual barred by the national's restrictions. "Nor have we been under any com- pulsion, save that of our consciences, to take this action," he added.

The Phi Sigma Kappa chapter is the second Dartmouth fraternity to leave its national in recent years, but it is the first to do so entirely on its own initiative. The Theta Chi chapter at Dartmouth was dis- missed from its national in July 1952, as a result of a letter it sent to Theta Chi national officers in April 1952 stating the chapter's intention to disregard the fraternity's restrictions on membership and describing as "intolerable" the constitutional clause barring non-Caucasians.

In March 1954, a majority of the student body voted to allow Dartmouth chapters of national fraternities six years to get rid of discriminatory clauses. According to the resolution, later backed up by Trustee action, any fraternity still exercising a nationally imposed restriction on membership in i960 will be barred from interfraternity competition, an action which would destroy the fraternity's attractiveness to prospective members.

The Phi Sigma Kappa chapter was established at Dartmouth 51 years ago. At Dartmouth there are now eighteen chapters of national fraternities and four local fraternities: Kappa Kappa Kappa, Gamma Delta Chi, Alpha Theta and Phi Tau.