Darmouth's Greek plan draws fire at U.

Many said Dartmouth's move against single-sex Greek houses would fail. In response to last Tuesday's announcement that Dartmouth College President James Wright wants to eliminate single-sex fraternities and sororities at his school, most Penn administrators and students said they would not approve of a similar move here. According to a statement released last week by Dartmouth's Board of Trustees, the school's residential and social system should "be substantially coeducational and provide greater opportunities for greater interaction among all Dartmouth students," as well as foster "a greater choice and continuity in residential living." Penn Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum said the University's current coed Greek system is the "best structure" for Penn. "While each institution, certainly including Dartmouth, has the right and responsibility to make choices for each campus, I would not support such changes at Penn," she said. Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Assistant Director Tom Carroll echoed McCoullum's high regard for Penn's Greek system, pointing to the "rich history of Greeks on campus" that will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. He added that "for an institution to force an organization to go coed" raises the "question of freedom of association? and first amendment rights." Members of all three Greek umbrella organizations at Penn -- the InterFraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the BiCultural InterGreek Council -- cited the "relaxed atmosphere" that single-sex organizations foster as the major sacrifice of a coed Greek community. Panhel Secretary Nicole Natoli, a College junior and Delta Delta Delta sister, said advantages of sisterhood or brotherhood such as "emotional and academic support systems" would be lost should Penn's Greek system ever go coed. BIG-C President Ramon Marmolejos, a Wharton junior, said a coed minority Greek system would "limit" social options. "There are so few of us," the Lambda Upsilon Lambda brother said. "It is very difficult to find comfort amongst ourselves [and would be even more difficult in a coed setting]." Marmolejos pointed to minority brother-sister organizations like Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha that provide "interaction between the sexes" and thus "eliminate the need" for a coed Greek system on Penn's campus. IFC Vice President Andrew Exum, a College junior and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, called Dartmouth's decision an "unfortunate move," stressing that the change "has come down from an outside source" rather than from the students or alumni. And Exum pointed out that the University imposing such a decision in the reverse case would also be unjust. "I think an organization like St. Elmo's [Delta Phi] would resent [being forced] to go single-sex," the Sigma Nu brother added. Delta Phi -- the IFC's sole coed fraternity -- chose on its own to admit women in 1980. Some University students said they were under the impression that Wright's decision will eventually lead to the total elimination of the Greek system at Dartmouth. Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother David Caldwell called Wright's proposal a "sneaky" method of "destroying the Greek system at Dartmouth," stressing that the national chapters at that school will likely pull out their charters in opposition to the coed mandate. And IFC Secretary and Delta Phi member Peggy Hanefors said she thinks Dartmouth will "lose many of their applicants" if the school enforces a coed Greek system. "Even though the coed fraternity is perfect for me, I don't think it's perfect for everyone," the College junior explained. Several Penn students said Dartmouth's possible overhaul of the Greek system would not solve what they saw as the "underlying" problem with Dartmouth's fraternities and sororities -- alcohol abuse. "[Maybe] frats aren't a positive thing there," said IFC President Mark Metzl, a College junior, pointing to the possible abuse of alcohol within Dartmouth's fraternity system. The Tau Epsilon Phi brother added that much of the University administration -- including sorority alumnae McCoullum, a Delta Sigma Theta sister, and University President Judith Rodin, a Delta Phi Epsilon sister as an undergraduate at Penn -- supports Greek life at Penn. Various non-Greeks also disagreed with the idea of ending single-sex fraternities and sororities. Alison Fair, a College freshman, said the coed Greek system would "put an end to frat parties" and "change an integral campus tradition."' "All those movies like Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds would be inaccurate," Engineering senior Brian Fabella noted. Some non-Greeks, however, said a revamping of the current fraternity and sorority system could be a positive change at Penn. College junior Tamar Migdal said that "people rely too heavily on the Greek system" for entertainment and socializing. The change would force students to "look elsewhere for entertainment," she noted.

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