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A Reckoning for College Fraternities and Sororities

Perspectives from two readers who have studied them.

Portraits of these students at Vanderbilt University were taken over Zoom. Organizers asked to be photographed as a group of equals, instead of individuals, to recognize their solidarity. From left, Daniel S. Wrocherinsky, Riya Patel, Rachel Rosenberg, Nicole Gillis, Simi Odugbesan, Lucy Barse, May DonahueCredit...Photo Illustration by The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Rejecting Greek Life” (Sunday Styles, Aug. 2):

Some decades ago I studied the impact of fraternities and sororities on the student cultures of colleges and universities. Historically, fraternities arose as a way of institutionalizing the resistance of collegians, more interested in play than in study, to the demands of faculty and administration.

Fraternities gave rooms in which to gather, drink and rabble-rouse; held files of previously assigned papers, opening the way to plagiarism, along with old exams that allowed unfair preparation and even the copying of previous successful answers.

Fraternities sorted out groups by religion, class and race, creating hierarchies of prestige. Yearly rituals involving initiation of new members gave “brothers” opportunities to engage in group violence. What was not to like?

Sororities may have been more circumspect, but they nonetheless offered “sisters” a structure of social hierarchy and imposed pressures toward conformity, bearing their own cruelties. Socializing with campus fraternities could also make college women vulnerable to sexual abuse.

These institutions have long needed a full reckoning. It is good to see this beginning to happen.

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz
Cambridge, Mass.
The writer is the author of “Campus Life” and professor emerita of American history and American studies at Smith College.

To the Editor:

Having researched the abolition of fraternities at Williams College, I know that getting rid of Greek life at private colleges is both financially and legally feasible.

College administrators may worry that a ban on Greek life will dry up alumni giving. But when Williams phased out fraternities in the 1960s, donations held steady. In the following decades, the college grew in wealth and prestige, and today, many students choose Williams in part because it lacks Greek life.

Defenders of Greek life argue that colleges are legally bound to permit fraternities and sororities, but I’m unconvinced. To my knowledge, Williams has never gotten sued for its ban. That’s because private institutions like Williams or Vanderbilt don’t have to honor students’ rights to freedom of association. And colleges can skirt Title IX issues by prohibiting all Greek-life organizations, not just single-sex ones.

History has shown us that private colleges can ban Greek life. Now it is up to them to decide if they will.

Irene Loewenson
New York
The writer is a member of the Williams College class of 2022.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 18 of the New York edition with the headline: A Reckoning for Fraternities and Sororities. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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