Princeton's Attitude
 

Princeton, as you may have heard, sent out a letter to its incoming first-year (freshman) class urging them not to join fraternities or sororities. According to The Daily Princetonian the letter doesn't seem to have affected recruitment numbers. Apparently Princeton students and their parents disregard the school's administration if they feel like it.

For the recent article about the letter (and quotes from a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma) see

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/arc...ws/10730.shtml

For a letter to the editor that is favorable to Greeks at Princeton, see

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/arc...on/10751.shtml

I have never seen a university be so blatant. I'm glad some are fighting back. I wonder why the administration thought this was the best way to go? They could come to a compromise on things if they really wanted change. A lot of schools have deferred recruitment and I see no reason why the Greeks wouldn't be willing to accept something if the university would get off everyone's backs.

Probably because certain alumni of certain clubs feel threatened.

-Rudey

I cant believe that and administration would be so ahrsh. Though I understand the reasoning. My campus had deferred Rush. Freshmen couldnt go through recruitment until their secod semester. This gave students time to adjust to campus life and classes without the pressure of rushing and pledging. The IFC somehow managed to get it changed so that the guys could go through their first semester. That was bad. Lots of people failed out.

Excellent point. From what I hear of the "eating clubs" they seem much more elitist than sorority/fraternity rush...

Would it not behoove the Greeks to go to deferred rush in a gesture of good will relations with the university?

Exlurker.

Do you go to Princeton? I think a girl was found dead in a dorm there a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering what the story was.

Why is it the fraternity/sorority's fault if someone has trouble with their grades? Eventually, it is the responsibility of the individual to manage their time and priorities. A higher quality organization usually helps them do that, but in the end, it's the individual that has to come through.

Is there data out there that really suggests that all fraternities and sororities are harmful to a student's academic success at Princeton?

I wasn't suggesting anything about a student's academic performance being the sorority's fault.

My recommendation was just that since Princeton is the institution where the GLO's have set up shop, and Princeton will exist with or without GLO's, the GLO's might have an easier time if they made an effort to break the ice and work with the universities. By being the "bigger person" and working with the university's goals, the GLO's can also meet their goals. I'm just talking about compromise.

Princeton's concern is that a new student is a "fish out of water" who is unaccustomed to functioning without mom and dad. The new student is suceptible to making poor decisions because there are so many new factors in his life. I think their goal is to help the students acclimate, and right now, their position is that Greek Life will hinder the new students' acclimation. Whether or not that is true is irrelevant because the students came to this school to attend Princeton. Joining a GLO is just added icing.

So my point is that the GLO's should make more of an effort to develop a relationship with the university. The GLO's have everything to gain by developing this relationship. Princeton really doesn't lose anything by being anti-Greek, except to upset Greeks. And no student is going to boycott attending the university for that reason. So, since the GLO's have something to gain, it would benefit them to endear themselves to the administration and work together for the benefit of the students.

adpiucf, I mean this in the nicest of ways, but you had a real Muffy Tepperman moment there :D

I had forgotten the GLOs there were not officially recognized. Let's look at it this way - what gives the admin the right to tell freshmen to do something (and use money and time to do so) that isn't officially part of the university? I mean, what if they said "don't get a library card at the town of Princeton library" or "don't join the local chapter of the KKK/Jews for Jesus/whatever"? How about if they advised the students on which local churches they should or should not worship at?

If they want to keep denying Greek life's impact, they're just going to look dumber and dumber. I'm not in favor of first semester rush either, but as far as this situation, if they don't get anything for doing it, why would they?

ROTFL :D

Grrr... After I simmer down and collect my thoughts, I'll be writing a letter to the Prince and President Tilghman and Dean Deignan. (I am a Theta alumna and a Princeton alumna.)

I'll post a copy of my letter on this thread, in case it's of interest to anyone.

A few quick points, from my undergraduate experience at P'ton: the eating clubs lose NOTHING from having GLOs on campus. Almost all GLO members also belong to eating clubs. Don't get me started on the issue of narrowing your social circle that early in your P'ton career - GLOs if anything widen it, and so many celebrated P'ton traditions narrow it much more. (singing groups, anyone?)

Off to take a few deep breaths. . .

The last I read about the death of Melissa Huang, the Princeton sophomore who was found dead in her dorm room, was that the preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive. Apparently the police have ruled out foul play. No suicide note was found, from what I've read. It may be weeks before the cause of death is determined and released to the media, so you may want to check Google News from time to time.

I applaud you efforts to keep GLO's on your campus. I went to Stanford, and I think the University gains a lot from a Greek presence, and the students (who are prone to shutting themselves in libraries to study) gain even more.

That may have some truth to it. There is a large amount of cross membership between the GLOs and the eating clubs. There is no immediate threat to the eating clubs if the greek system grows. Alumni who belonged to both will probably have greater allegiance to their GLOs than to their eating clubs. That may now be evident, and this may be a reaction to a diminished ability of the eating clubs to raise money.