re: #156 oaktree

And the university seems split on whether to recognize, or attempt to eliminate the Greek fraternities. I presume the latter intent would be due to incidents the university find embarrassing (like the article triggering this conversation points to). And I didn’t see what requirements the university would make in order to recognize.

Thanks so much for your very detailed and informative answer!

You’re right— my apologies, I should have made this clear— Princeton has a very unique and weird relationship with the Greek societies.

They aren’t recognised, and the university has even sent out letters to incoming students about the ‘unrecignised’ system—this is why:

Six years ago this spring, in a second-floor classroom in Frist Campus Center, there was a meeting that may have been the first of its kind. It was also the last.

Fourteen representatives of Princeton’s fraternities and sororities met with Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan to discuss the presence of Greek organizations at a university where they have long gone unrecognized and unregulated. The University’s decision to formally reach out to members of the Greek organizations on campus marked a major departure from its policy dating back to the mid-1850s of refusing to acknowledge their presence.

The subject of the meeting: rush. Administrators asked the fraternities and sororities to move rush from September to later in the academic year. The representatives from the fraternities and sororities rejected the request, and the meeting went nowhere.

The outcome: six years of silence.

Princeton seems very different from other places w/r/t frats etc; I was specifically asking if anyone knows why, or could give an informed argument (from within that system) for why it should be treated differently there than elsewhere.

Thanks for all this info though— rereading now.