COLUMN: All-male and under attack

From Kristopher Couch's, "Nothing But the Truth," Fall '96 From Kristopher Couch's, "Nothing But the Truth," Fall '96 Across the country, all-male colleges, student groups and fraternities are getting the "full-court press." In the name of eliminating sexism, campus activists and politically correct administrators seek to purge schools of groups that do not allow women. The Court's ruling rightfully demands equal opportunity. However, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's majority opinion described how "some women are capable of all the activities required of VMI cadets," she also explained that admitting women would require alterations in living arrangements and physical training programs. The ruling "walks" the fine line of equal versus special treatment. The VMI example generates many interesting questions about single-sex institutions. What is equal treatment? What is equal opportunity? The Court's ruling called for both, while simultaneously recognizing the profound differences between women and men. Single-sex schools emphasize exactly these differences, saying some women and men feel more comfortable learning in a same-sex environment. But because of the overzealous push for equality, the purges have begun to affect private clubs and organizations. A few years ago, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered Princeton University's all-male eating clubs to accept women. But it required the existing eating clubs to change, instead of providing equal opportunity through the creation of all-female eating clubs. My sincere apologies go out to the men of Mask and Wig. All it would take is an ambitious Penn administration to press the point, and you would no longer need to wear dresses or stuff your bras. But all kidding aside, the focus of administrators over the last few years has been the last bastion of male association: Fraternities. Some colleges -- like Middlebury and Trinity -- have demanded that all-male fraternities admit women or disband. Groups whose national charter does not allow them to accept women must either sever ties with their national or go underground. A few fraternities have brought lawsuits against these colleges -- but so far, all have lost. (Fraternities do discriminate based on sex. Remember, however, that just because an organization restricts membership on the basis of sex, its members are not necessarily sexists.) But something's missing from the above examples. I left out all-female colleges, societies and sororities for two reasons. First, the single-sex purge has focused on all-male groups that discriminate against women. And many people have no problem defining fraternities as sexist, without extending the definition to all-female groups. If sexism is discrimination based on sex, then all-female associations fall into the same category as all-male. If fraternities are sexist, so are sororities. If Penn-Six is sexist, so is Quaker Notes. I'm walking on dangerous ground by bringing up such a contradiction. Sexism should be abhorred, and yet many would defend the existence of all-female sororities or all-male performance groups. Where do we go from here? Two main questions remain unanswered. Are single-sex groups legal? The courts consistent in required equal opportunity at public institutions. However, opportunity has continually meant forcing single-sex groups to open their doors, instead of requiring a comparable group for the opposite sex. The courts have not protected single-sex organizations in private institutions, either. When colleges forced student groups to go co-ed or disband, the court took a more hands-off approach. Proponents of single-sex groups argue that school administrations, by trying to shut them down or make them take members of the opposite sex, are denying them freedom of association. Many fraternities and sororities feel school administrations are trampling on freedoms guaranteed in the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The remaining question may be the most important: Does any good come out of a single-sex group? Apparently some students think so, since they continually join fraternities, sororities and performance groups that are single-sex. Sociology studies seem to agree, pointing out that in mixed groups there's a strong tendency for women to defer to men. It seems almost common sense that in groups that are strictly male or female, people are able to escape societal pressures to conform to certain roles. Single-sex groups do not belittle the value of co-educational opportunity. Both should be provided for students, depending on individual needs and desires. The colleges that have forced single-sex groups to disband have consistently denied the needs of students who benefit from such organizations. I hope the University will not follow the trend, continuing instead to provide students here with equal opportunity and as many choices as possible and proving that a "full-court press" can be broken.