Greeks Under Attack?

It’s the latest installment of the University-Greek scene faceoff – this time under the guise of the innocuously-named Report of the Working Group on Campus Social & Residential Life.The report begins with Princeton, A History: Social Edition. It goes all the way back to when Princeton was known as the College of New Jersey, but since I think we can all agree that things that happened over 250 years ago won’t be incredibly relevant, I’ll just give you the highlights.The recommended injunction on first-year rush is really just continuing a venerable 168-year Princeton tradition. Fraternities were banned in 1855, then became secret societies before disbanding for real in 1875, when 50 members were identified and suspended. They didn’t return until the mid-1980s, and by 1993, 15% of the student body had joined one of 18 unofficial Greek organizations on campus.The return of frats and sororities didn’t exactly mean they were welcome, though, as the working group’s recommendation makes clear:“Students should be prohibited from affiliating with a fraternity or sorority or engaging in any form of rush at any time during the freshman year, or from conducting or having responsibility for any form of rush in which freshmen participate. The penalty for violating these prohibitions should be severe enough to encourage widespread compliance, which probably means a minimum penalty of suspension.” What makes this more complicated is that it’s pretty clear that there’s no student consensus on this one. Those opposed to the Greek scene say it limits students’ social options by forcing them to choose between joining or not in the first weeks at Princeton, before they’ve established a network of friends. Those in favor say it’s been a big part of their Princeton experience and provided a social network they wouldn’t have found through other activities, particularly in the early years when students aren’t yet part of an eating club.But the other issue raised is that for all the data presented in the report – more on that in a bit – there are no hard facts about how Greek life affects undergraduates’ experience. Particularly given the detailed analysis provided on other aspects of social life, the exclusively anecdotal evidence seems a little odd.Jake Nebel ’13 wrote up a petition opposing the ban on first-year rush, which has now been signed by over 600 students, 30% of whom are not affiliated with Greek organizations. The letter itself addresses specific arguments offered in favor of postponing rush, but Nebel says students have other concerns.“One real problem with the report was the mismatch between claims they make about fraternity members’ social experiences and the research they did on that question, which is basically nil,” Nebel said, adding that the report also didn't address alternatives like delaying rush until after fall break instead of a full year.Whether you’re pro- or anti-Greek, it’s hard to oppose getting a better understanding of what the effects actually are. Nebel says the petition, which will be submitted to President Tilghman soon, is just the “first phase,” so don’t expect this issue to quiet down anytime soon.What with all the frat fracas, though, some surprising points have been overlooked. For starters, we may be getting our very own undergraduate D-bar! The campus pub, located in Chancellor Green until the drinking age rose to 21 in 1983, may be making a comeback in the near future.The biggest surprises, though, came from the data presented in the broader section on undergraduate life – numbers that make you wonder why the major recommendations focused on fraternities and sororities.Although we’re generally pretty happy with the residential college experience during freshman and sophomore years, seniors who aren’t in eating clubs are a lot less happy with Princeton’s social scene, and those in the colleges are least happy of all (although personally, what I find most worrying is the small, yet noticeable, percentage of seniors who deemed satisfaction with their social lives “not applicable.” Is this what the thesis does to us?!)Still, the report assures us that 70% of seniors in the colleges express “high degrees of satisfaction” when asked specifically about social activities in the colleges. That’s true if you consider “generally satisfied” a high degree of satisfaction – if you don’t, the figure drops to a less-impressive 11%, and that’s among the colleges’ target audience.But the last chart is where it seems the real story ought to be. 9% of students in bicker clubs felt out place socially “often” or “most of the time.” For sign-in clubs, the number doubles. Co-ops? Triple it. Every other independent category has a still-higher percentage.It’s pretty clear, then, why the university wants to tackle the social scene, but not so obvious that Greek life is the real issue. Check back for updates on the latest in the great Greek debate (can we call it the Trojan War?)