The president of Trinity College has decided to eliminate a mandate to make all fraternities co-ed.
In an e-mail to the campus community and YouTube video, Trinity President Joanne Berger-Sweeney explained that after joining the college last year, she spent time listening to students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and local residents about the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life.
"I approached this topic with an impartial view and open mind," Berger-Sweeney said in the video. "Based on all of my research and conversations, I have concluded that the co-ed mandate is unlikely to achieve its intended goal of gender equity and inclusiveness."
Watch the video below:
Dialogue around the co-ed mandate has been divisive and counterproductive, Berger-Sweeney said.
At least 50 percent of the local chapters would lose their national charters because their national organizations require that they be single-sex.
Berger-Sweeney has asked the Board of Trustees to endorse the elimination of the co-ed mandate.
Wesleyan University is also requiring fraternities to become co-ed, part of an attempt to reign in negative behaviors like drinking and sexual misconduct. One fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, is suing Wesleyan, arguing that the action is discriminatory.
