what type of campus for your GLO?

[Erik P Conard]

'way back when the literary societies had larger libraries than the
colleges, 'way back when most schools were private; 'way back
when the colleges were finishing schools for the ladies as well as
readying men to run dad's business; way back beginning when
Pthe Phi Psis built that cabin in the woods in Gettysburg...
'way back when the newly-founded state universities, from the
Morrill Act in 1862...welcomed men's groups especially and the housing they provided...and the Greeks who built them.
'way back when the Betas had a 15 man chapter and were the
kings of the campus along with the Alpha Delts, Zetes and Dekes.
'way back when the teachers' colleges emerged, and the aggie schools, and the engine schools...creating locals who became
national chapters..and so on.
'then the streetcar college wanted to offer inducements to have a
residential atmosphere...and Greeks to boot...
and the night schools blossomed into day schools, too;
and the junior colleges and extensions became four year ones...
but the Greeks now began to wane....
And they ran off the advisors, fired the housemother, alienated
the alums...began keggers in the house, deflowering the ladies
now on the second floor...throwing up on the Pike porch or taking
a leak on the SAE lion...several thousand dormant chapters later
some are asking...maybe the basic idea of fraternity is valuable,
with SOME supervision. Even Harvard, Yale & Princeton have now
widely touted this notion. And now Kappa has responded...wow!
Gosh, manners might return...study halls...exchanges...
It is probably not fair to try to compare Cleveland State with Ole
Miss or Berkeley with Keene (NH) State...or Harvard, who
now wants GLOs, with Iowa Wesleyan
But some of us have chapters at all of these. Some of us have
been advisors at many of these. Read the list of dormant chapters of the GLOS...most of them were not the ivied-places, or
the State U with the law & med schools, nor the paid-athlete ones which draw throngs of alumni hell-bent on winning teams.
SO...where are we? Does Alpha Sigma Tau go to Ole Miss and
does KKG go to U of Southern Utah? Does SIU-Edwardsville meet
the Pi Phi's and do they pose a threat to the Tri Sigmas? This is
interesting...many changes have, indeed, occurred. And Tom,
you are right...things are a-changin'...might be an interesting topic for historical and nostalgic greeks who can see a differnce
'tween the overalls and the bloomers.
One thing, by the way, it is interesting to note what has become
of the old chapters and old houses, say at Amherst or Bowdoin,
now that we GLOs have been kicked off and our houses given to
co-ed or diverse or other non-traditional groups...with the aid of
the institution...from student funds....Anybody got any pictures of
the once-gorgeous houses at Bowdoin or Amherst?
Even an old codger, an old SOB, or what have you...even those who mean well...can see that....'course that is a fur piece from the hallowed halls of Ole Miss. And if some of you think this is condesending, better take a course on reading comphehension, for it is not that at all...

[aopirose]

Interesting piece, Erik. In the latest NPC Extention Bulletin, Amherst (College) is mentioned. The school does not recognize Greeks but there is interest. I look forward in seeing who will colonize there.

[James]

Didn't Amherst actually do away with Greeks?

[ZZ-kai-]

Well said Eric, your posts are great reading material. Ebay always has old postcards of the fraternity living in the early 1900's:

Bowdoin Deke:


Amherst Deke:


Amherst Beta Theta Pi (from ebay, won't be on long):


Amherst Psi Upsilon (from ebay):

[Erik P Conard]

gosh, thanks for sharing those postcards. Those are houses
from an era nearly gone by...costly by any standards in a time
where collegians were very elite, demands on students were
many. Today we do not have the same mien, nor the funds, nor
a society which'll abide these lifestyles. I have seen the Amerst
houses, and you would sicken to see what has been done to them, and I am sure the college did not have the guts to stop it.
History of American Education and the trappings are fun topics,
and Dr. Frederick Rudolph of Williams has written perhaps the
flagship book on the subject although greeks were barely touched
Williams and Middlebury are two other NE schools who've done
away with the greeks. And Dartmouth, who tried to do this in the
past coupla years--has had to put it in crawdad gear. Faculties of
today are not fraternal organization-friendly. In fact, they are a
hostile lot. While NE has tried to set the pace, they have failed
miserably. I hope most of you will observe this and come up with
your own conclusions. But, it is a sad era, and we have opened
up the old schools to nigh on everyone...what would you call this
in class? Mixed emotions abound, from Bowdoin to Ole Miss, from Barnard to Mizzou...good dissertation material.

[IvySpice]

Harvard and Princeton definitely do not want GLO's. They're there, but the schools have no mixed feelings about this. They do NOT think that the basic idea of a fraternity is valuable in the context of those campuses, supervised or otherwise, and they certainly aren't touting it. Harvard in particular does not want single-sex organizations of any kind and goes to great lengths to ensure that the chapters derive no benefit from their association with the school.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by IvySpice
Harvard and Princeton definitely do not want GLO's. They're there, but the schools have no mixed feelings about this. They do NOT think that the basic idea of a fraternity is valuable in the context of those campuses, supervised or otherwise, and they certainly aren't touting it. Harvard in particular does not want single-sex organizations of any kind and goes to great lengths to ensure that the chapters derive no benefit from their association with the school.

You mean single-sex organizations outside of athletics. But wait, doesn't Harvard still have that all guys' singing group?

[IvySpice]

I have no doubt Harvard would get rid of all the single-sex groups if they could. Single-sex sports teams are governed by NCAA rules (and federal law). The single-sex performing arts groups were grandfathered in when the anti-discrimination rules were adopted; certain art forms (like drag shows) require performers of one sex. But the exception applies to performers only. If a group has non-performing directors, managers, etc., those roles have to be open to everyone. Even women's advocacy groups like the Radcliffe Union of Students have to be open to men.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by Erik P Conard
Phi Psis built that cabin in the woods in Gettysburg...

Miller Hall is still there, next door to the main Phi Psi house. The chapter's alumni corporation is looking for a contractor to renovate it, but this is difficult because only Phi Psis can work on it. No one has ever been inside who is not a Phi Psi.




And, here is a picture of the former Phi Psi house at Amherst:

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by Erik P Conard
Mixed emotions abound, from Bowdoin to Ole Miss, from Barnard to Mizzou...good dissertation material.

What would Barnard today have to do with any of this? Upon their merger with Columbia, Barnard women who are in good standing can go through Sorority Recruitment with Columbia women--and make up a good percentage of the sorority and co-ed membership.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
What would Barnard today have to do with any of this? Upon their merger with Columbia, Barnard women who are in good standing can go through Sorority Recruitment with Columbia women--and make up a good percentage of the sorority and co-ed membership.

Yup. From talking with Columbia greek affairs advisors, I've learned that Barnard women make up just under 50% of Columbia's NPC membership. This information is about a year old, so I don't know if anything has been done about it, but Columbia College student organizations are not supposed to have more than 50% Barnard students. There was the concern that NPC recruitment was trending to cross that 50% barrier.

[aopirose]

Originally posted by James
Didn't Amherst actually do away with Greeks?

Yes, Amherst does use the term “abolish” but they just became unrecognized in 1984. (The fraternities had the choice of either admitting women or leaving.) They get no resources (physical, staff, or monetary) from the college. Yet, one of the fraternities does have a faculty advisor and they all sponsor big campus wide events. There are 5 fraternities and one of those has female members. I hope that a sorority will soon join them.

Here is an opinion piece from last fall regarding fraternity recognition - The return of fraternities to campus is long overdue - http://halogen.note.amherst.edu/~ast...pinion/04.html

[Tom Earp]

E C once again in your "LUCID" moments, you have so much information to pass on to these kids!

For you kids, this gentleman has been to hell and back and has a Library of Greek Knowledge in his head! I know, I have known him for going on 41 years now.

The way He has helped me in the inception of my Founding a Local to becomeing a Brother of LXA from a Man who is a TKE just shows what kind of person He really is!

As can be seen on GC, We all have our point of views, but so few have really lived it!

E C, be the man that you are and always will be to Your Protege so to speak!

Live and learn from The Man! He has a knowledge that is infitesimle and is more than willing to pass on!

Go E, Go E, Go E!