After Protests, Swarthmore Will End All Greek Life on Campus

Swarthmore College will formally ban all fraternities and sororities after recent student protests led to the disbanding of two fraternities.

Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon announced last week that they would shut down after the publication of racist, sexist, and homophobic documents, which appeared to have been written by members of Phi Psi, led to a four-day sit-in by student activists.

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Officials at the college, in a Philadelphia suburb, criticized the actions of the protesters, saying that Swarthmore would await the results of a campus task force on Greek life before taking any action. The two fraternities disbanded before the task force could complete its work. But the protests didn’t stop there. Unsatisfied with how the college had handled the situation, another group of students started a hunger strike.

The showdown highlighted the conflict between student activists demanding immediate action and the common tendency of administrators to act through formal processes.

Valerie A. Smith, Swarthmore’s president, said in a written statement on Friday that, based on the task force’s recommendations, the college would no longer allow Greek life on its campus and would end the practice of leasing buildings to student groups.

“The voluntary disbanding of Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon reflects a broader change in student needs and desires,” Smith said. “Exclusive, dues-paying social organizations no longer effectively meet the needs of our residential liberal-arts environment.”

‘You Should Be Ashamed’

The Kappa Alpha Theta sorority will be allowed to continue with its current members through the spring of 2022, but it can no longer recruit or initiate new members. Long-term plans for the two former fraternity houses have yet to be decided by the college.

“I recognize that, for generations, membership in Greek-letter organizations has been a meaningful part of the Swarthmore experience for many in our community,” Smith said. “We now have many more initiatives designed to help us achieve this goal. The college is committed to providing opportunities for all students to flourish and feel at home here.”

The hunger strike began on Monday with the goal of “ensuring students’ right to peacefully protest.” Five students on the campus, and two abroad, demanded that the college acknowledge their protest and formally agree to protect student activists.

“Yesterday 1 striker fainted,” the protesters wrote in a tweet on Thursday. “Nobody from senior admin has acknowledged the strike. We met with one dean yesterday who asked, ‘What if senior admin never reaches out?’ Swarthmore, you should be ashamed.”

On Thursday, 80 hours after the hunger strike began, senior administrators acknowledged it, according to a tweet by the protesters. Students met with James S. Terhune, vice president and dean of students, and Ed Rowe, chief of staff and secretary of the college.

Swarthmore will hold a series of group conversations in the fall among students, staff, and faculty to “discuss the relationship between our academic and co-curricular roles and programming,” Smith wrote.

“The struggles we have faced,” she continued, “offer an opportunity for self-reflection and growth, for movement towards, rather than away from, each other.”

Zipporah Osei is an editorial intern at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @zipporahosei, or email her at zipporah.osei@chronicle.com.