Social Changes

After reading what Ed had to say about the issue of whether or not to close the fraternities, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter.  I agree completely with Ed's views on this issue. While I think that there are some imperfections in the social "system" here at Trinity, I don't think that the fraternities should be shut down in order to alleviate them.  I appreciate the school's interest in pooling more funding from general alumni over simply receiving money from brothers, however I think that eliminating the fraternities entirely will deplete the school's appeal in applicants' eyes.  Trinity might be respected as an academic institution, but students will probably be less apt to apply here if the social scene is altered that dramatically.  I, for one, really enjoy the fact that we have the fraternities as an option on weekend nights. I am not overlooking the negative incidents that have been occurring more recently in the fraternities/involving the fraternities, but I do think that the fraternities are important to the social scene at this school. Without them, I think that students might turn to forming "underground fraternities".  Should those come to existence on this campus, the purpose of having shut down the fraternities will have been for naught.  These "underground" fraternities might cause bigger problems for the school, as well, because they will be even less regulated than the current, "official" institutions on our campus.  Whether or not the school actually shuts down the fraternities, I think that, yes, something does need to change.  But instead of demolishing a significant portion of the current social scene, why don't we add to other aspects of the nightlife on this campus?