![]() ![]() While Harkness himself had been a member of Psi Upsilon and Wolf’s Head, he had been bothered by the fate of other “average” students who were not among the chosen. It was in part a dissatisfaction with the fraternity system that led Edward Harkness (Class of 1897) to fund the construction of the first residential colleges in the early 1930s. The tug-of-war between fraternities and the colleges is nothing new. And, in an issue more particular to Yale, there is concern that fraternities-by establishing homogeneous social hubs off-campus-could pose a threat to the democratic social structure of the residential colleges, which are one of Yale' s most attractive selling points. Nationwide, Greek-letter groups carry a reputation for excessive drinking and rowdy behavior. (Typically, their officers and a few other juniors and seniors live in.) Nevertheless, the Yale administration and many students have watched the resurgence of fraternities warily. In place of the formerly posh clubhouses, which the University now uses for a variety of academic and extracurricular purposes (DKE’s is now Rose Alumni House, home to the Association of Yale Alumni), today’s fraternity men meet in humble off-campus houses, most of them on Lake Place behind Payne Whitney Gymnasium or on Lynwood Place, High Street, or Park Street. Many students have watched the resurgence of fraternities warily. And unlike their predecessors-apparently timeless institutions steeped in tradition-the new fraternities seem caught up in the continuous ebb and flow of organizations that comes with an increasingly diverse College population. The nine fraternities and four sororities that have sprung up over the past 15 years are less a dominant culture than a specialized subculture. However, today’s Greek scene bears little resemblance to the one that expired 25 years ago, when Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE)-Yale’s last holdout against the waves of social change in the 1960s-lost its house on York Street. No, but fraternities are back, to the delight of some observers and the discomfort of others. Even so not everyone feels the trend calls for a toast.įor some alumni of a certain age, the words “Yale” and “fraternity” go together as naturally as “blue” and “blazer.” But for those undergraduates who came to Yale in the 1970s and 1980s, the sight of Greek letters on Lake Place houses and on posters advertising “rush” events is disorienting, and not a little alarming-did we take the wrong exit and end up in Hanover? ![]() The membership is a bit more diverse than in the past. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers.Ī quarter-century after the last Yale fraternity house shut off its beer tap, the College is in the midst of a Greek revival. The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. Yale Alumni Magazine: frats are back (Oct 98)
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