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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1962
Greeks Give Opinions on Discrimination
(Continued from page 1)
(Continued from page 1)
can be forced, but the resulting good would only be superficial and transitory.
"What is really needed," he concluded, "is an increase in the communication between minority groups and Greeks. Unfortunately, a lot of people think that this is a way to get rid of Greeks rather than a way to right a moral wrong."
SUE WESTON, Overland Park senior and president of Alpha Delta Pi, said, "I cannot speak for the whole chapter, but my personal feelings would be in accord with Chancellor Wgcoe's statement."
These are but a few of the opinions which appear to be representative of the general comments expressed during the interviews.
In the years following the Roper poll, this trend has continued to increase.
A ROPER POLE taken in 1949, for example, indicated, on the basis of a student sample covering members and non-members of fraternal groups from all sections of the country, that three-fifths of the students opposed membership exclusion by fraternities and sororities on the basis of race, religion or nationality.
Nationally, the issue of fraternity and sorority discrimination has long been a major area of student, faculty, and administration concern. For the past decade, on many campuses from one end of the continent to the other, a trend of student interest and action in this area has been developing.
Concerning this trend, Alfred McClung Lee, in his book, "Fraternities Without Brotherhood," says:
"Opinions of both fraternity and nonfraternity students in all sections of the country appears to sustain the view that the number of students wishing to retain restrictions within the college community is a steadily diminishing minority."
N. C. BELTH, in his book, "Barriers," also comments on the trend. He says:
"The current movement against fraternity discrimination has been principally centered in the student body. Undergraduate members of local chapters have taken the lead in the struggle for a non-discriminatory policy."
Discussing the results of his poll, Elmo Roper said, "...we found that students in the Far West had a more liberal attitude than students in any other part of the country. But, significantly, there wasn't a single section of the country, including the South, where a majority of students wanted to continue racial and religious discrimination in fraternities and sororites."
ALTHOUGH STUDENT pressure for change in the selection requirements has been increasing, many obstacles remain. Often, a lack of cooperation between local chapters, national organizations, alumni and the college authorities has stalled the efforts of students.
Mr. Lee says part of the trouble is "in most cases college administrators have proceeded with great caution, national fraternity leaders have dragged their feet. College officials are well aware that a 'generation' of college undergraduate leaders lasts at most only four years and, in an effective sense, usually only two or three years . This means that the path of reform is this field is often difficult."
Several approaches have been used in the past few years to eliminate religious and racial discrimination in social organizations. Mr. Belth presents a few of these methods.
He says: "Some local fraternities have severed ties with their nationals and have established themselves, with the encouragement of college administrators, as independent units. Others have decided to stay inside their nationals and fight alumni resistance to change. Many have complied with orders
firmly set down by college officials to either end restrictive practices or to break their bonds with nationals which refuse to do so.
"A SIZABLE NUMBER have been given a specified date for compliance, and in quite a few institutions, restrictive fraternities have been expelled outright. Some colleges have witnessed the establishment of interracial fraternities."
Examples of these methods can be found at other campuses.
At Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me, for example, Delta Upsilon chapter accepted suspension from its national in 1957. It had refused to withdraw its pledge to a Negro student, reports an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) article on fraternity bias.
Others have complied with strict college regulations to integrate or break their bonds with nationals. The University of Chicago was one of the early schools with complete acceptance of the regulation.
Other schools have established time limits for compliance with their non-discrimination policy. The University of Colorado's Board of Regents "has voted to expel from the campus after Sept. 1, 1962 any fraternity or sorority which still has racial or religious restrictions in its national charter, rituals, or practices," ADL reports.
AN EXAMPLE of staying within the national and fighting resistance is now being carried on by many Phi Delta Theta chapters. An attempt will be made this summer to remove any form of racial and religious discrimination left in the national constitution, the local chapter president said recently.
(The Anti-Defamation League is a Jewish organization concerned with issues involving civil rights and civil liberties.)
AT THE UNIVERSITY of California a chapter of Beta Sigma Tau, a new non-sectarian, interracial fraternity, was organized.
methods and examples used to eliminate discrimination in fraternities and sororites.
These are but a few of the
(A remaining question is whether or not the action away from bias should be permitted to evolve entirely on the terms of the national fraternities, without coercion from colleges or student bodies. Tomorrow's article will deal with this question and with other approaches to the elimination of racial and religious discrimination.)
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