Harvard seeking to ban fraternities, sororities and single sex social org's.

[kgilbert78]

If I'm reading Harvard's conclusions correctly, it seems like the next step would be gender neutral dorms--byroom....

However, I will note that I did live in a dorm in Germany as a PSU exchange student where the bathrooms were co-ed. In the late 70s. But the stalls were floor to ceiling (tho the urinals were not enclosed) and there was a separate lockable single room for a shower. Most of the rooms were singles--only one double room on each floor (and I knew a married couple that had the one on my floor). You got used to it--and the dorm was mostly male anyway at the time.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I am too busy with my career and family (and PSU football!) to have been dialed into these things, so I just don’t know.... what is the rationale behind eliminating gender nowadays? Is it to correct inequality? Is it not ok to be traditional masculine or feminine now? If someone could explain without politics that would be great! I started noticing this gender elimination with bathrooms a few years ago, and I feel like I missed the ‘why’ of these issues.

Harvard says gender exclusive clubs are counter-intuitive to their mission to provide an inclusive, welcoming experience for all students. That said, I haven't seen them reject an application from St. Albans or Georgetown Prep.

From the horse's mouth:

Harvard College Social Organizations Policy

• Harvard College brings together bright and talented students from all walks of life to form a community of learning that facilitates their intellectual, personal, and social transformation. To advance the mission of educating leaders and responsible citizens who are prepared to serve a global and diverse society, the College works to embody an inclusive and non-discriminatory community of learning.

• Diversity is central to our mission, as well as to our understanding of an effective educational environment in which students learn from exploring their differences. It is central to our obligations to society and to our students. It is central to the very organization of the College, which emphasizes a residential undergraduate experience where students are randomly assigned to Houses as a means of maximizing each student’s exposure to people unlike themselves.

• Unrecognized single-gender social organizations (USGSOs), including final clubs, sororities, and fraternities, run counter to Harvard's long-standing non-discrimination principles, and have an outsized and negative impact on the social and personal experiences of Harvard College students. This impact has been observed and described by multiple College Visiting Committees, and by College and University committees, including most recently the Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Assault and the USGSO Faculty Committee.

• In May 2016, Harvard College announced a new policy stating that beginning with the class of 2021, undergraduates at Harvard College, who are also members of USGSOs, will not be permitted to hold leadership positions in recognized student organizations or on athletic teams and that they will also not be eligible for letters of recommendation from the Danoff Dean of Harvard College for scholarship opportunities, including the Rhodes and the Marshall.

• Over the past two academic years, the Harvard community – faculty, staff, and students – has engaged in robust discussion about how the University should address the many issues presented by USGSOs, including discussion of the May 2016 policy.

• On December 5, 2017, it was announced that the Corporation, of which President Drew Faust was a member, voted to adopt one of the three options presented by the USGSO Faculty Committee: namely that the existing policy, adopted in May 2016, should remain in place.

• The Corporation has also voted that the policy be reviewed after five years to determine its effectiveness in addressing these issues and to determine whether revisions are warranted.

 

[LafayetteBear]

We cannot ignore the responsibility we bear in relationship to our students’ experience in these settings and their effect on the broader community. These organizations are very much of Harvard: They are effectively on our campus, consist exclusively of Harvard students and graduates, and directly influence the character of undergraduate life. More importantly, in their current incarnation, they stand in the way of our ability to provide a fully challenging and inclusive educational experience to the diverse students currently on our campus.

IMO, the bolded language above, is where the Harvard President's argument falls apart. Implicit in that statement is that fraternities and sororities are necessarily monolithic in the ethnicity of their membership, and that this has remained and will remain unchanged. That is certainly not my experience, and I have seen a whole lot of different fraternity chapters. Perhaps the "final clubs" at Harvard are profoundly different. I would be surprised if that was the case.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

IMO, the bolded language above, is where the Harvard President's argument falls apart. Implicit in that statement is that fraternities and sororities are necessarily monolithic in the ethnicity of their membership, and that this has remained and will remain unchanged. That is certainly not my experience, and I have seen a whole lot of different fraternity chapters. Perhaps the "final clubs" at Harvard are profoundly different. I would be surprised if that was the case.

Well, it’s not like that opinion was pulled from thin air - it’s the result of several studies the university commissioned. You can read more about the findings on their website if you like. My guess is we’re sort of finished with this - up to courts now.

 

[LafayetteBear]

Well, it’s not like that opinion was pulled from thin air - it’s the result of several studies the university commissioned. You can read more about the findings on their website if you like. My guess is we’re sort of finished with this - up to courts now.

Hey Midnighter. I heard a rumor today that GOT cranks back up in April 2019. Have you heard anything about that?

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Hey Midnighter. I heard a rumor today that GOT cranks back up in April 2019. Have you heard anything about that?

Yup!