Keep The Fraternities All-Male

TO SHOW YOU HOW far things have changed in academia, the very institution that once worked hard to keep the sexes from mixing in houses is now seriously discussing forcing them into mixing. To the deans' lasting (and surprising) credit, the debate has so far been limited to students. Early this fall the president of the Student Assembly, Andrew Beebe '93, gave a Convocation speech in which he proposed that all 26 houses, sororities as well as fraternities, go co-ed.

Never mind that many of the houses are far more racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse than, say, the Dartmouth administration. Never mind that sexism and alcohol abuse thrive outside of fraternities. Never mind that forcing people to live in an uncomfortable arrangement is a bizarre way to teach social understanding. Since this is a student debate so far, let's see how students vote with their feet: there have been co-ed houses for years, but they're in the minority. More than 60 percent of males on campus rushed fraternities this past fall; 60 percent of females rushed sororities. Even the co-ed houses say they don't want the houses to be forced into coeducation.

The desires of students have not always been paramount in the past, however, so our best rebuttal is one that our predictably liberal alter ego made in this very magazine a year ago. We were arguing about whether minority housing should be banned; our partner (who prefers the PC label "affinity housing") defended the practice. And I quote: "Having a place to relax and be themselves allows these people to confirm and strengthen their ties to their various communities—and thereby become more effective members of the College community." If this works for minorities, why shouldn't it work for the brothers and sisters who live in Greek housing?

Below is another in a seriesof occasional debates betweenour schizophrenic editorialself at the DartmouthAlumni Magazine.