Princeton: No freshmen in fraternities, sororities
 

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Princeton University says fraternities and sororities will be banned from recruiting first-year students starting in the fall of 2012.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2011082...medium=twitter

What is not made all too clear is just how is this going to work as
"Greek organizations aren't officially recognized by the Ivy League school and they don't have houses on or off campus."

From yesterday:

Princeton to ban freshman affiliation with fraternities, sororities as of fall 2012

From May 2011:

Princeton: No Freshman Rush, Stronger Anti-Hazing Policies, Re-establish Campus Pub

And from 2009:

Princeton sends letter to parents regarding concerns about Greek Life

Princeton discourages freshman from joining fraternities and sororities

;)

Ugh Princeton is so lame. I dont get how they will promote joining the eating clubs on campus (which if you want to make the "all they do is get drunk blah blah blah" argument, based on first hand experience, the clubs are WORSE!) but not Greeks????

Also, in terms of a "succession plan" for the chapter, you only have 3 years to give to your chapter.

Sophomore Year = Year 1 in GLO as a New Member
Junior Year = Year 2 in GLO = Become an officer
Senior Year = Year 3 in GLO = Be President, or another officer

That doesn't seem like a lot of time to learn the inner machinations of how to run a chaper effectively.

Er, does the other year make THAT much of a difference? we're not talking long term management here.

They don't promote the eating clubs -- they tolerate them. The administration would love to get rid of them, too. But they are far too large, historic, entrenched, rich, etc. The school has given up on attacking the clubs directly. They've moved to the strategy of weakening the clubs by a thousand cuts via 4-year residential colleges and other structural means.

Pretty much. Any potential donations lost from assailing the Greek system is a drop in the bucket compared to what they'd lose if they went after the eating clubs. Princeton has one of the highest levels of alumni giving (behind some school like Ohio State) and they're not going to give that up.

Ahh gotcha.

So by attacking greek life and NOT the clubs, based on what they said in that article,I feel like even just tolerating them is totally hypercritical.

Not all chapters require the President to have held a different position. It is not uncommon for sophomores to be elected. There are other campuses where this happens - I think people need to realize Greek life can come in all shapes/sizes and what works for one campus may not work for another.

Based on articles I've read online, attacking the Greek system is another means for them to do this—apparently, the GLOs act as feeder groups for the "bicker" (selective) eating clubs.

Is anyone on here from Princeton?

Article by a Princeton Greek alumni challenging the reasoning behind the ban.

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2011/10/06/28942/

Let me get this straight. Princeton, a school that admitted 9.5% of its applicants and has an estimated yearly cost of attendance of over $52,000 is trying to reduce elitism and exclusivity by not allowing freshmen to rush? That's a joke.

It makes sense to me to aim to build a school that's elite vs. the rest of the world, but operates as a community of equals for the students who get in. They don't want an in-group, out-group dynamic WITHIN Princeton.

Whether that's a worthy goal, and whether this policy serves that goal, are very much open to debate. But the concept doesn't look like a joke to me.

While I didn't go to Princeton, my high school was more or less a feeder school and I know many kids that went there. This is absolutely true...ABC feeds into 123 club, XYZ feeds into 456 club, etc. In fact, for many kids joining a GLO is more to ease their chances of getting into their preferred eating club than to have a fraternity or sorority experience. Bicker takes place sophomore year (I believe), so frankly I bet that many will just opt to bicker and skip pledging a GLO if they are both the same year. I can easily see this devastating the Greek community...but, like I said, I think for most Princeton Greeks their real allegiance is to their eating club rather than their GLO in the end anyway.

Not really. Even though it's really hard to get in and expensive, they have a commitment to provide their students with good financial aid. It's not as if they're limiting their student body to those who can pay the full freight.

It's more about not wanting Greek Life as part of their campus culture. That's been obvious to me for years--Greek life adds far less to the campus culture (ie, dedicated alumni who donate the money that allows Princeton to be as giving when it comes to Financial Aid) than the eating clubs.

Princeton can outright ban fraternities and sororities for all I care.

I read a quote from President Shirley Tilghman claiming "When I've seen the way fraternities and sororities go about attracting their membership, it's not been based on talent. It's based on social comfort." That is a ridiculous concept upon which to try to base the anti-Greek position considering that the eating clubs (at least the ones that Bicker) choose their members in the same way.

It's their campus and, as long as the students don't revolt, they can do as they choose. They can get rid of or water down the greeks because they don't want them there, but I sure wish they wouldn't try to sugarcoat the whole thing in an extremely flimsy veil of inclusion.

It would only be ridiculous if they approved of the eating clubs. They don't. They're just picking their battles.