Friday, April 18, 2014

Beware the export of fraternities

As a preface for this post, I need to claim my legacy...  I was in an undergraduate fraternity.  I fact, I was a founder and president of one.  I met my wife at a fraternity party.  Both of my daughters joined sororities while in college.  And yet, the export of fraternities and sororities as part of the Western university experience is not something I would suggest that anybody consider - not for a moment.

I am intentionally harsh on this issue and it is easy to be definitive.  The historical record indicates that fraternities emerged in the mid-19th century as essentially academic societies, attracting the best ot students and helping to shape the character of their members when colleges and universities in the U.S.A. had little else to offer.  What was good about fraternities was essentially adopted by early student personnel administrators, enhanced with other dimensions, and offered for all students.  When all students had the opporutunity to live together in self-determining communities, to engage in leadership, and to explore service to their campus and community, the gradual slide into irrelevance of fraternities began.  But it takes a long time for organizations with selective and elitist membership to recognize that they are no longer relevant.  The U.S.A. is in a very difficult spot.  Legal rights to free association provide cover for dysfunctional fraternities and campus leaders have a great deal of difficulty tackling the negative cultures that are prevelant on most campuses.

One of the most celebrated cases of attempting to eradicate fraternity problems is Dartmouth College in Vermont.  A new article admonishes that Dartmouth College tries again to address its problem with fraternities, alcohol abuse, sexual assault and other social problems.  While some readers of this post will say, "but there are good groups out there," with which I agree, the pattern and associated risks of fraternities are simply too great for anyone in international higher education to consider supporting them.

Fellow educators dedicated to advancing positive student learning and development around the world, think long and hard before entertaining the possibility of adopting/adapting fraternities as part of the student experience for your university.  There are too many other ways to enhance the student experience that don't incur the legacy and risk of fraternities.

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