I wouldn't get too worried about this one. I can't imagine a theory that this case could succeed on. Any idiot can file a lawsuit for anything.

My husband went to Bowdoin which had a longstanding fraternity tradition. In the 1980s the chapters had to go coed or close. The coed chapters became "associates" of the national organizations. At the end of the 1990's the college closed all the fraternities citing that they led to a culture of exclusivity, etc. Last summer we happened to be in Brunswick when his chapter's alumni/house corporation had its annual meeting, so we attended. The president of the alumni assn. (a woman) told us that what happened was that "private" clubs have sprung up (facilitating partying) that are not regulated at all...... IMO the college did a great disservice when it went coed by not inviting NPC groups to join the Greek system. (Alpha Phi tried but the colony was not chartered.)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/evanger.../#1c4f02bd3516

"Understanding The Dueling Lawsuits Against Yale And Harvard Over Fraternities And Sororities"

Forbes article about the Yale and Harvard lawsuits. I only skimmed parts of the article (should have been grading papers), but my favorite part is:

"The plaintiffs claim that Yale should act more like Harvard, which has aggressively discouraged single sex social clubs by banning their members from leadership positions on campus among other sanctions. This brings us to the “rock and a hard place.” Yale is being sued for not acting more like Harvard, while Harvard is being sued by male and female students for, well, acting like Harvard. They want Harvard to end their sanctions against single gender organizations"

Did the colony not charter because of lack of interest or because of roadblocks the college put up?

What is this f***ery????

I'm hearing the Beastie Boys sing "you gotta fight for the right to party" as I type this. That's what it's all about. They don't want to go to dinner or watch TV. They want access to the best parties...which, apparently are an adult version of Megan's List, filled with sexual offenders. But they're mad because they're not invited. What the...and they might need to networking power fraternities offer, because GOING TO FREAKING YALE isn't going to offer them any networking opportunities.

Someone hired a lawyer for this. We've reached critical mass.

Me thinks they didn't get selected to go into said party and internalized it due to lookism, so now they're back with lawyers.

All of this wouldn't even be an issue if the drinking age was 18. These bitches could just go to the bar and leave everyone alone.

I would never let these girls in my bar...they’d probably sue for not having access to the liquor so they can make their drinks the way they want them.

What kills me is ...if they win...what do they really think it’s going to be like? Do they think they’ll be the most popular people in the history of Yale and every single white shoe employer is going to be beating a path to their door? Will there no longer be any crime, sexual assault, snobbery or unpleasantness because every single gathering on every single square inch of campus at every single minute will include all genders?

I’m sure that will be exactly it.

If they win, and all the organizations become co-ed...do they think they're getting a bid? Then, they will just have to sue then...again.

I will admit, I read AR's book. She was another one who seemed to think co-ed fraternities were the way to go. (Not putting them down, technically I was in one, but our particular chapter was all female). The example fraternity she used in her book- it was at an Ivy, can't remember which one, was filled with sex, drinking and partying, just like she claimed were the corrupting forces of single sex organizations. It's COLLEGE.

I wonder if now is the time to bring Alpha Phi Omega back. From what I understand, Alpha Phi Omega went inactive in an odd way. The chapter basically got eaten by its largest service project (spent all year preparing), Communiversity Day and eventually became an organization devoted to that (Yale Undergraduate Philanthropic Society).

I'm not saying that Alpha Phi Omega is equivalent to a social greek, but a push from some students to have co-ed greeks can't hurt Alpha Phi Omega expansion...

Oh hells no. It would get turned into a mouthpiece for “no single gender organizations” and the most important parts - leadership, friendship, service - would become secondary.

I think that Fence is taking the brunt of that. But the staff in the area would have a much better read than I.

This is correct. There are some nice sections of New Haven but it’s far too easy to end up in a rough section.

When I was in college there were a couple of fraternities that made me nervous. One had the reputation of being a "date rape" fraternity. Another one just felt aggressive. Guess what I did? I went elsewhere. Other girls didn't feel the same, so they partied with those houses plenty.

Because that's what you do at College. You find your niche and you enjoy yourself. This idea that the world is a comfortable place for all has GOT to end.

I'm not condoning the behavior of the fraternities, far from it. But give me a break. The culture of toxic masculinity does not begin and end around a fraternity charter on a college campus.

I truly don't understand why people outside of a greek system can't or are unwilling maximize those same opportunities through other organizations. It's not like you graduate and this network just opens up and hooks you right up with a career, house, spouse, 2.5 kids, white picket fence and a savings account. You still have to work it, greek or not.