"We don' need no steenkin' Frats"

The second of three articles about the absence of fraternities at Notre Dame.

(click here for link to post on the first article)

"The establishment of, or membership in, social fraternities or sororities is considered contrary to the educational and residential mission of the University and is consequently prohibited."

Though surface rationale behind the University's lack of a Greek system - it's against the rules - is widely understood by students, the deeper reasoning behind the policy is less clear. Is the principle solely grounded in tradition, or are there additional factors at work?

Secrets, secrets are no fun

The Catholic Church has denounced secret societies, or exclusive social groups with rituals involving an oath of allegiance and private ceremonies or events, for more than 260 years. Pope Clement XII first condemned freemasonry in 1738 - a sentiment that was later echoed and applied to colleges and other scholastic academies by Pius VIII in 1829.

The Church has no official doctrine outlawing the presence of fraternities and sororities at Catholic universities. And by virtue of the 1967 "Land O' Lakes" statement - created at a conference held between top leaders from Catholic colleges and universities -individual institutions enjoy sovereignty in shaping Catholic character.

Oh, yeah. Blame the Freemasons. After all, they are behind every other bad thing, from the French Revolution to implanted microchips.

Tradition and omission

The Notre Dame admissions Web site attributes the absence of Greek organizations to "the residential nature of the campus and its unique stay-hall system, in which students typically remain in the same dormitory for their entire time on campus." Such an arrangement "fosters a strong sense of community," the Web site says.

"I've heard our residential life [described] as the advantages of the Greek system without any of the disadvantages - rush, the cliques, deciding on whether you're good enough to join them, monthly 'dues' [and a] much lower diversity of people living together," Director of Admissions Dan Saracino said.
[...]

"The assertion that the dorms are 'just like frats and sororities' is a bit of an equivocation, considering the connotations regarding alcohol that terms like fraternity and sorority involve, coupled with our current alcohol policy," he said. "The absence of frats and sororities has not led to a corresponding absence of abusive drinking or other partying at this campus."

Do you think HQ would be up to the challenge of cracking this administration? Nah, me either. Jesuits trump Freearks pretty much any day of the week.

The Observer

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