Fraternities and sororities have not been recognized at Colby since 1984. For most current students at other colleges, Greek life is an essential part of campus life. But, the College’s decision to get rid of it came after years of arguments about who fraternities included, who they excluded, and how much influence they had over social life on campus.
One of those arguments appeared long before 1984. In 1961, Jacqueline Núnez `61 proposed that campus organizations should have the freedom to choose members without discriminatory restrictions imposed by national organizations. Her proposal did not name fraternities and sororities directly, but much of the debate centered on discrimination within the Greek system. The following year, the Board of Trustees approved a policy barring fraternities and sororities from choosing members based on race, religion, and national origin.
Those changes did not settle the issue. In January 1984, the Board of Trustees abolished fraternities and sororities altogether. Colby’s current Student Handbook says the organizations were inconsistent with the College’s values and points to features such as secret membership, closed recruiting, initiation rituals, and hazing. More than 40 years later, rushing, pledging, and other fraternity activities remain prohibited.
On paper, the 1984 decision looks final. Colby had problems with fraternities, the College abolished them, and those problems went away. I would argue that the history is not that neat.
A College-commissioned investigation released in 2019 found that underground fraternities had continued long after the official ban. The investigation confirmed that groups known as EA and Delta Kappa Epsilon had existed as recently as spring 2018. Another group, PHI, was active during the 2018-19 academic year. Even today, Colby’s orientation materials include a discussion of the College’s fraternity history, the decision to abolish Greek life, and the consequences of underground organizations.
The fact that fraternities returned underground makes me wonder what the College actually got rid of in 1984. The College could ban Greek letters, secret rushing, pledging, and fraternity organizations. It could punish students who continued those activities. Rules, however, cannot automatically remove the reasons students form closed social groups in the first place.
I am not saying every friend group, club, or athletic team at Colby is a fraternity under another name. That would be unfair. Students will form circles based on friendship, sports, interests, where they live, and who they spend their time with. That is a normal part of college.
The question becomes harder when those circles begin to affect who has access to social spaces and who does not. The College got rid of fraternities after decades of concerns about exclusion within the system. Students such as Núñez had already asked why membership in campus organizations could be restricted based on race or religion. The names and structures can change, but questions about who gets invited in and who remains outside do not disappear because Greek life is gone.
That is what makes this history worth thinking about now. I am not arguing that Colby should bring fraternities back, and I do not think campus life today is the same as it was before 1984. But, getting rid of an organization is easier than getting rid of the social habits that can grow around it.
The College made a clear choice 42 years ago about the kind of social system it did not want. The question for students today is what kind of social culture we want instead. If exclusion was part of the reason fraternities had to go, then banning the organizations did not solve every problem tied to them.
~ Stephen Owusu Badu `27
Be First to Comment