Greek Organizations Will Go Co-Ed

Colleges & Universities Trinity College (CT)
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<p>Today’s Hartford Courant brings news of Trinity College’s decision to dramatically alter the role of fraternities and sororities there. This move is based, in part, on the perceived negative impact of these organizations on the campus as well as on Trinity’s reputation which has become, it says, that of a “party school”. There is reference once again to the mugging of a student last spring that resulted in broken facial bones, a case which has not been solved. In addition, the article points out that students have been transferring away from Trinity because of a decline in academic seriousness on campus. </p>

<p>The article saddens me because it validates the worst of my fears about Trinity’s declines from the days, forty years ago, when we at Wesleyan considered it to have an outstanding academic reputation. The college counselor at my son’s high school noted recently that in his opinion, “Trinity’s students do not seem to appreciate the outstanding faculty they have. The students do not match the quality of the Trinity faculty.”</p>

<p>The good news is that, with the various changes in the Greek system and other moves that the administration will take to improve the non-Greek social scene on campus, the ship will start moving back in the right direction. </p>

<p>You can read the full article for yourself here:</p>

<p>[Trinity</a> Fraternities, Sororities: Trinity Forcing Fraternities, Sororities To Go Coed - Courant.com](<a href=“http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-trinity-frats-coed-20121124,0,1787992.story?page=1&track=rss]Trinity”>http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-trinity-frats-coed-20121124,0,1787992.story?page=1&track=rss)</p>

<p>Note that there is reference to a “white paper” that the President and his team have written, on which this article was based.</p>

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<p>The Hartford Courant published an editorial blaming Trinity’s frats for damaging the college’s reputation–“party school”–and arguing that fraternities are “anachronistic”. Read it for yourself here:</p>

<p>[Trinity’s</a> reasonable approach to reining in wild fraternities, sororities - Courant.com](<a href=“s – Hartford Courant”>http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-trinity-frat-houses-need-taming-20121130,0,7347754.story)</p>

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<p>By requiring fraternities and sororities to take in members of the opposite sex, most if not all of these organizations will probably lose their national charters, and / or dissolve themselves. Maybe that’s what the college really wants.</p>

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<p>Any student attending Trinity who is serious about academics will find abundant opportunities in the classroom and will be consistently supported by outstanding, caring faculty. And he or she will also find plenty of motivated peers who are achievement oriented. </p>

<p>I applaud Trinity for efforts to rein in undesirable behaviors. This administration is hardly alone. Take a look at this article about Ivy League administrators’ efforts to curb the incredibly out-of-control party elements at their prestigious colleges. Certainly puts Trinity’s efforts in perspective.</p>

<p>[Ivy</a> League Cracks Down as Students Spiral Out of Control - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>

<p>And I doubt students at the any state university are paragons of virtue either.</p>

<p>What matters to me is Trinity is putting its own institutional values on the line and clearly stating its strong desire and willingness to support an intellectually vibrant community.</p>