Editorial: Next Time, Look At Fraternities

The affected fraternity would return to its house after just one year. This rotation process would guarantee each fraternity eight years on campus and one year off. · Perhaps this is the best way to begin to diversify Locust Walk. Probably not. Maybe we would have come up with a better idea if we had consulted President Sheldon Hackney before writing this editorial to see what he thought we should have written. Maybe our idea would have been improved if we had taken a year to mull over our options and solicit input from every possible special interest group on and off campus. But we are offering a solid option to deal with the exclusionary presence of fraternities on Locust Walk -- something that after a year's worth of work, the Committee to Diversify Locust Walk failed to do. Although the committee made some good new recommendations, they avoided this central issue in the whole Locust Walk debate. On fraternities, they wrote: "In his charge to the committee, President Hackney focused on his desire to achieve change equitably and noted that he would not seek the forced relocation of any fraternities currently located on the Walk. While these sentiments were echoed by many alumni and students communicating with the committee, there was also substantial support within the committee and within the University community for a Locust Walk without fraternities. The committee discussed this dilemma at great length and, had the President not stated clearly his intentions, it is possible the committee would have recommended the removal of at least some fraternities from Locust Walk." [Emphasis added.] Since the committee allowed itself to be handcuffed by the president, it was left to suggest a series of half-measures and philosophical goals, which, while commendable, are still just half-measures. The entire University community, including President Hackney, could have been enlightened if the committee had suggested ways to go about removing at least some fraternities from the Walk. President Hackney and his crippling charge are responsible for this huge failure of the committee. Minority group leaders on campus have already said they don't believe any substantive changes will result from the report. More damning, a few members of the committee itself said they honestly believed the final report would have no impact on the future of the Walk and refused to sign it. In 15 minutes of brainstorming, we were able to suggest one possible solution to the problem that fraternities pose to diversity on Locust Walk. Maybe Hackney will allow the next committee to look at the issue to come up with a few new ideas of its own.

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