[15434] in APO-L
What is important about all-male chapters?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Joseph M. Fisher)
Sun Nov 10 19:44:45 1996
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 19:40:06 -0800
Reply-To: "Joseph M. Fisher" <jfisher@RacerX.mse.jhu.edu>
From: "Joseph M. Fisher" <jfisher@RacerX.mse.jhu.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Perhaps this discussion would be well served if someone would explain to
the list, what is the merit in keeping all-male chapters? What do these
chapters do that could not be done if they became coed? I know that this
has been touched on before, but I don't remember seeing a real clear
explanation.
To clarify a point that has often been mentioned recently, these chapters
are EXCEPTIONS to national rules. No single-sex chapters can now be
formed or rechartered at coed schools. So APO is really *not* neutral on
this issue. I don't know how much of our policy pertaining to gender
and membership is explicitly written down, as opposed to interpreted by
the Board from certain gray areas of the bylaws - but hey, the 1976
agreement apparently wasn't written down either. Anyway the all-male
chapters currently have a *special* status... exempting them from the
overall fraternity policy against sex discrimination. As far as I
know, these are the facts of the situation. Does anyone in the know have
something to add/correct?
We might also ask, what is the merit in having coed chapters. It's a
fair question now if it was twenty years ago. But it's also pretty
self-evident. We can point to increasing membership... admission to more
campuses... but most importantly, I think, the expertise brought to APO by
an unlimited number of points of view.
-- Cyrano
