Phi Kappa Psi at U of Virginia Voluntarily Suspends Activities

[1964Alum]

I think much depends on why young women join a sorority. If it is for the greater association with the men in fraternities and their parties, then I think that the demise of fraternities would affect some recruitments in some sororities.

Back in my day -50 years ago!- the sororities certainly flourished with far fewer ties to the fraternities. We joined up with one fraternity to give a Christmas party for local orphans. And the fraternities sponsored a women, most often a Greek, for Homecoming Queen. And we all participated in Greek Week in the spring with many intermurals and the like.

What we did NOT have were frequent mixers, events where alcohol was served on campus. Women were not allowed in the fraternity houses, nor were the men allowed in ours. And that was very firmly enforced. Larger and more formal fraternity parties with alcohol being served were held in hotels in a neighboring large city. There was also a large and dark nightspot in this same city with live music that served alcohol that many of us went to on the weekends, often with a borrowed ID from a sister.

Many sorority women of course dated, became pinned to, and married fraternity men. But many did not. Same thing with the men in fraternities.

My campus certainly had a party culture that involved the fraternities, but it was very tame and not a prominent feature of life within a sorority. There was one exception with close ties to one fraternity that would have been more profoundly affected without the tie to that fraternity. But not so with all the other sororities on my campus.

It is very likely very different today.