Should Colleges Get Rid of Fraternities?

- WSJ 07/10/2017, 12(35 AM

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http://www.wsj.com/articles/should-colleges-get-rid-of-fraternities-1442368892

BUSINESS | JOURNAL REPORTS: LEADERSHIP

Should Colleges Get Rid of

Fraternities?
Alexandra Robbins says theyre dangerous, but Georgianna L. Martin says they shape young
male lives for the better

Fraternities have suffered much criticism in the wake of a few highly publicized negative incidents.
PHOTO: W. STEVE SHEPARD JR./ISTOCK

Sept. 15, 2015 10:01 p.m. ET

Is it time for colleges and universities to move away from the

fraternity system?

Over the past few years, high-profile incidents have been piling up
that put the campus societies in a negative light. Critics point to
incidents showing fraternity brothers allegedly involved in racist
displays, sexual assaults or even deaths from hazing.

Some schools have taken steps like banning hard liquor or expelling
individuals for misbehavior. But some critics argue that those moves
dont go far enough. Individual incidents of misbehavior, they say,
arent outliersthey are signs of a harmful culture that needs to be
removed from higher education.

Fraternity boosters insist that the societies remain a positive force on

campus, molding young men in positive ways and doing other good
work for the community. Some critics, meanwhile, argue that
statistics about fraternity misbehavior are overblown and some

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Should Colleges Get Rid of Fraternities? - WSJ 07/10/2017, 12(35 AM

notorious incidents
JOURNAL REPORT were misrepresented.
Insights from The Experts
Read more at WSJ.com/LeadershipReport
Alexandra Robbins, the
author of Pledged: The
Secret Life of
MORE IN BIG ISSUES: EDUCATION Sororities, makes the
Whats the Best Way to Make College More Affordable? case for moving away
Should Community Colleges Be Tuition-Free? from fraternities.
Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Unionize? Georgianna L. Martin,
an assistant professor
for student affairs
administration/higher education at the University of Southern
Mississippi, argues for keeping the system.

YES: Fraternities Put Members and Nonmembers at Risk

By Alexandra Robbins

Fraternities simply dont fit into the mission of 21st century higher
education. They represent a dominant and dangerous social culture
that needs to be removed from universities.

Were used to the headlines by nowstories of widespread abuse and

bias that have no place on a modern campus. In leaked videos and
emails, fraternity brothers across the country have been caught
describing raping women or slinging racial slurs. Many researchers
have found that fraternity members are more likely to commit rape
than nonfraternity members. One study author has stated, It is
reasonable to conclude that fraternities turn men into guys more
likely to rape.

These toxic attitudes and behaviors dont belong at the center of

campus social life. I should note, however, that Im generally not
referring to minority fraternities, which typically dont have houses
and focus more on cultural networks.

Widespread harm

Fraternity misbehavior not only puts other students at risk, it also

endangers the members themselves. For one thing, fraternities act as
a major alcohol supplier to students. Little wonder that 86% of
fraternity house residents binge drink, compared with 45% of non-
Greek college men. There is also the matter of continued hazing
practices, which have led to numerous deaths.

Altogether, Bloomberg News has counted more than 60 fraternity-

related deaths between 2005 and 2014. How many students have to die
before universities step in and protect the young adults whom parents
entrust with their care?

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Should Colleges Get Rid of Fraternities? - WSJ 07/10/2017, 12(35 AM

Whats more, fraternity leadership teaches members to prioritize

image control over doing the right thing. When I conducted
undercover reporting for my book Pledged, a fraternity leader told
students at a Greek national leadership conference, One death takes
10,000 hours of community service to make up for the public-relations
aspect. The University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilons expelled
this spring likely learned their racist chant on a national leadership
cruise, according to a statement from the national headquarters of
SAE. These are not the leaders we want men to become.

Defenders of fraternities point to numerous beneficial activities and

the bonding experience for members, in addition to the chance to
become leaders. It is true that fraternities that quietly perform
community-service activities dont typically make headlines. It is also
true that these gentlemen could do so outside of a system that
increases their rates of binge drinking, serious injury, drug abuse and
death. Thanks to increasing residential college and other smaller-
community systems and a proliferation of college clubs, fraternities
dont provide students with anything productive that they couldnt
find elsewhere on campus, with on-site college supervision and more
diverse participants. Good men who would join a fraternity would still
do good things without the fraternity umbrella.

Holding sororities back

In addition to these familiar arguments, Id like to contribute a new

reason why fraternities should be disbanded: Theyre bringing
sororities downand sororities still have a fighting chance to remain
relevant. Sororities are inherently safer organizations that ban
alcohol from their houses. With more formally structured
opportunities to learn marketable skills and management savvy,
sororities have the potential to be feminist juggernauts, marshaling
their 3.5 million members toward vital causes promoting womens
equality and the formation of an old-girls network.

But fraternities hold them back. As long as fraternities exist,

sororities will revolve around them, focusing their considerable
womanpower on demeaning activities like wooing Homecoming or
Greek Week escorts rather than womens activism and empowerment.
Remove fraternities and sorority sisters would be less pressured to
date only certain menthe very men who are more likely to rape
them. Last year, a university study found that nearly one in two
sorority members therean astonishing numberwere victims of
nonconsensual sexual contact.

Most universities are too cowardly to ban fraternities, although the

move would rescue their students from a dominant and dangerous
social culture. But if sororities are brave enough to lead the boycott,
they just might save themselves.

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Should Colleges Get Rid of Fraternities? - WSJ 07/10/2017, 12(35 AM

Ms. Robbins is the author of Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. She
can be reached at reports@wsj.com .

NO: Despite the Bad Headlines, Fraternities Are

Beneficial to Both Students and Schools
By Georgianna L. Martin

The fraternity system is a vital part of university life that plays an

important role in shaping young men for the betterdespite the
negative headlines that have surrounded individual fraternities.

Joining these organizations gives students a sense of belonging and a

support system that helps them thrive. On many college campuses,
fraternity men have higher grade point averages, and research
overwhelmingly shows that membership in a fraternity or sorority
helps students stay in college until graduation.

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Should Colleges Get Rid of Fraternities? - WSJ 07/10/2017, 12(35 AM

A positive impact

Fraternities also strive to develop morals. Over the years, I have seen
my share of fraternity men behaving badly, but for every instance of
negative behavior, I have encountered at least a dozen fraternity men
who are invested in their academic success and their career trajectory,
who respect women and people who are different from them, and who
contribute positively to their campus and their community.

Yes, there are a multitude of opportunities for involvement on campus

outside of the fraternity system. However, Greek organizations offer a
unique experiencethe close-knit community, opportunities for
leadership, academic support and personal development, and the
connection to something larger than yourself. The kind of
brotherhood you get in a fraternity is hard to explain to outsiders
and often makes them roll their eyesbut ask any member and youll
likely get a positive response about the bonding experience.

To be sure, individual fraternity members are associated with

detrimental behaviors such as hazing, binge drinking and sexual
assault. Fraternity leaders dont like this fact any more than fraternity
critics do. As a college educator, Ive had the experience of working
with men who are leaders in their fraternity or leaders in the larger
fraternal community on campus. These individuals bemoan the
negative attributes of fraternity involvement, and work extremely
hard to make their fraternity a positive experience for its members.

Whats more, the idea of banning all fraternities because of a few bad
players seems far too blunt. Fraternities differ across various types of
colleges and universities; a dysfunctional chapter at one university
may be an exemplary chapter at another institution. Further,
organizations may share similar characteristics, but they are
comprised of individual members, each with his own attitudes, world
view and ambitions. When shameful or even tragic incidents occur
from displays of racial bigotry to sexual assault to deaths due to
hazing or high-risk drinkingthey happen because of the poor
judgment of individual college students and the culture that
individual chapters have allowed to continue. They are not a result of
the Greek system itself or the influence of the fraternitys national
organization. Its also worth pointing out that in most cases,
misbehavior by individuals is swiftly condemned and punished by the
school and national fraternity.

Some critics raise the issue of fraternities harming sorority women in

a systematic way, such as making them regular victims of assault or,
more subtly, dominating their social life on campus. On the one hand,
I think sorority women are capable of taking care of themselvesthey
know the consequences of risky behavior from the governing council
on campus and the larger organization. On the other hand, I agree that

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Should Colleges Get Rid of Fraternities? - WSJ 07/10/2017, 12(35 AM

many women do actively engage in high-risk behavior, such as

drinking to excess at fraternity parties, just as some individual
fraternity members behave poorly.

The way forward

The solution to this problem and the broader problem of misbehavior

is better communication and connection between organizations,
college/university professionals and alumni advisers, and better
accountability for members. Setting high standards for individuals
and their fraternities, as well as holding members who exhibit poor
behavior accountable for their actions, is a positive step toward
keeping fraternities relevant in the larger context of American college
culture.

Dr. Martin is an assistant professor for Student Affairs

Administration/Higher Education at the University of Southern
Mississippi. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Clarification: The photo accompanying an earlier version of this

article incorrectly showed a sorority rather than a fraternity.

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