Darmouth College officials announced that they will ban single-sex fraternities on the campus in order to encourage “respectful relations between men and women.” Dartmouth first began accepting women into its student body in 1972.
Officials did not make clear whether they would eliminate the fraternities and sororities altogether, or force them to go co-ed. Darmouth President James Wright said that the Greek system “as we know it today will not continue” and said that the changes would greatly impact social life at Darmouth.
The school’s actions were spurred by concerns over excessive drinking and “social fragmentation” linked to the school’s Greek system, which inspired the movie “Animal House.” Tens of millions of dollars will be allocated to construct new housing, dining, and social areas in place of the Greek houses.
Officials at another school, Middlebury College in Vermont, also ordered its fraternities and sororities to become coed. Most of the school’s fraternities and sororities survived the conversion, although many were forced to change their names and affiliations given that many national fraternities and sororities require single-sex membership.
