Earlier this month, a number of Resident Counsellors (RCs), as well as other students serving in College-related positions, were called into the Dean of Students Office to determine whether or not they had breached the terms of their RC contract. The issue at hand was not their conduct or performance as counsellors, as students or even as individuals, but rather the organization to which they belonged. Each student brought in was a member of Chi Psi, one of four underground fraternities at the College.

The Dean of Students Office was first clued into the identities of the fraternity members by an alumus who forwarded a national Chi Psi newsletter to the office. The newsletter contained little more than the pictures and names of several students from the College, with the implication that they were members of the organization. According to a member of Chi Psi, no mention was made about the activities of the students pictured, or regarding the activities of the fraternity at the College. Thus far, no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the students mentioned in the magazine.

One member of Chi Psi was willing to speak on the situation under the condition of anonymity. "It was a little bit unfortunate because we've tried so hard, basically, to behave ourselves," he said. "There are legitimate concerns about fraternities and some of the stigma of fraternities come from realities about things that shouldn't be going on that do go on. We try very hard to stay out of the way of the Dean of Students Office and not cause any trouble. So it was unfortunate that this had to happen, in my view because it wasn't the result of us getting in trouble; it wasn't the result of our doing anything wrong. It was just a list of names that was brought to their attention. Since I've been here, our fraternity has never gotten in trouble. We don't really do the sort of things that would cause a disciplinary hearing."

The Dean of Students Office declined to comment on the matter.

Fraternities at Amherst

Prior to 1984, fraternities were a major facet of College life. In 1983, nearly 70 percent of the student body belonged to a fraternity. There were a total of eight fraternities on campus, occupying what are now dormitories outside of the campus proper. Hitchcock House, Tyler House and several others all used to be fraternity houses. On some of the buildings, fraternity logos, engraved in stone, stand as a testament to the houses' history.

This all changed in 1984 when the Board of Trustees passed a resolution prohibiting fraternities from holding meetings and activities on campus. Insofar as the fraternity houses were College-owned and because students are required to live on campus, the fraternities were forced to disband. Dean of Students Ben Lieber explained some of the reasoning behind the resolution. "The primary reason [for the resolution] was that most of organizations really, according their national charters, discriminated against women," he said. "They were also divisive in that respect. [...] The primary issue was co-education and the treatment of women within the fraternities. In fact, most of the fraternities were expelled from their nationals when they were forced by the College to admit women. Nonetheless, behavioral issues and divisiveness continued on campus even after the College began to admit women and force the fraternities to admit them as well."

Other than issues regarding sexism, fraternities on campus posed a financial burden on the College. "When the fraternities actually controlled the fraternity houses, particularly through the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was an awful lot of damage and vandalism to the houses, which the College had to pay to repair," Lieber explained. "The College, at that point, owned the houses, but the fraternities actually controlled them."

The Trustees' decision was not made lightly; it followed the inspection of thousands of pages from letters and reports from students, parents, alumni, faculty and past College committees. At the same time, the decision and preceding inquires gave rise to a number of student-organized demonstrations and protests. Fraternity supporters would stage sit-ins at College buildings and some students went as far as to organize hunger strikes to get their voices heard.

The controversy headlined a vast number of the issues of The Amherst Student for that year, spawning a number of Letters to the Editor and comics for and against the closing of fraternities. One point of particular contention was the faculty's support of the resolution throughout the decision-making process.

When the Trustees announced their decision and when the resolution went to effect for the 1984-85 school year, the majority of the fraternities on campus disbanded, throwing a number of wild parties with their remaining funds. Several, however, went underground instead.

Fraternities Today

Today, there are four underground fraternities on campus: Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), Psi Upsilon (Psi U), Theta Delta Chi (TD) and Chi Psi. Though they are not officially acknowledged by the administration, membership is not strictly barred by the College's regulations. The 1984 regulation did not prohibit the organizations from continuing their operations as long as they did not take place on campus.

Throughout the years, the fraternities have enjoyed a constant amount of support on campus. As of 2000, fraternity members accounted for approximately 10 percent of the student population. In the recent years, the fraternities recruit anywhere from five to 15 members a year. Chi Psi members reported that they recruit, on average, about 10 students a year. Often, six or seven are first-year students. Psi U typically recruits between 10 and 18 students and TD accepted eight first-years when they last recruited.

"Fraternities aren't huge and they don't represent a large percentage of the campus, but people are always interested," commented a member of Chi Psi. "My experience is that a steady number of people are interested in joining from year to year."

In many cases, the fraternities at the College break from traditional stereotypes. According to one member of Chi Psi, "less than half of Chi Psi's members are white, that well under half are athletes, and that very, very few could be considered financially 'privileged' relative to the campus at large."

Despite the continuing presence of fraternities on campus, the administration has no intention of acknowledging them officially at this time. Nor do they have plans to take action to abolish them or think that such action would be advisable.

"The College's experience was that when the fraternities were recognized, that was not a mechanism of control at the time," explained Dean Lieber. "The behavior was quite problematic. The College had nominal control, but it was ineffective. The notion that by recognizing them now that would change the situation is, I think, misplaced. When the Trustees decided to abolish fraternities, the assumption was that we couldn't restrict free association off-campus. And that, I think, is a legitimate principle."

He continued, partly in jest, saying, "The analogy I always use, which is admittedly an extreme analogy, is that I think it's fair to say that we would never allow a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan on campus. On the other hand, we would presumably have no right, if such a thing existed, not to allow a student who wanted to join an Amherst Town chapter of the Ku Klux Klan because students are free to associate with whomever they wish off-campus. So that at least is the principle at play. It obviously causes all these ambiguous situations that are problematic."

At the same time, fraternities, such as Chi Psi, are also happy to maintain the status quo. According to a member of Chi Psi, they predict that official acknowledge and acceptance on the part of the administration would have no appreciable increase in recruitment.