Last Friday, the Office of Residential Life informed Psi Upsilon (Psi U) that they had received program house status for the remainder of the spring semester and the 2004-2005 academic year.
The Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC) previously denied Psi U program house status because in accepting only male applicants, the organization violated the University’s non-discrimination policy.
“Their new proposal said that they are willing immediately in this round to accept applications from women and expect at the next meeting to consider issues of coeducating the fraternity,” said Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley. “The URLC thought this was a really positive step.”
The controversy surrounding the current and future status of Psi U comes at a crucial turning point in Residential Life, when two new program houses, Delta G (a science-themed house), and Film House, have just received approval. Other fraternities’ existences are also being challenged.
According to Whaley, Psi U plans to meet this May with alumni and current brothers to vote on whether or not to make the fraternity co-educational.
Whaley said that since they submitted their first application the fraternity has conducted several discussions with current undergraduates and alumni about the possibility of becoming co-ed.
Whaley added that if the fraternity votes in favor of coeducation, it would maintain its status as a program house. If the vote comes out against accepting female applicants, the URLC will rescind their status for the following year.
While Whaley seemed fairly secure about Psi U admitting women, the fraternity’s president, Matt Gottlieb ’05, stressed that no final decisions have been made.
“Everybody has their own opinion and certainly they differ from generation to generation and even among members of the house,” he said. “We’re considering all options, including maintaining the status quo.”
Tobias Wasser ’06, a member of the fraternity, explained that while he understood the University’s perspective, he wished that the brothers had been given more time to discuss the issue. Wasser, like others, as of yet still has ambivalent feelings.
“Right now, our main concern is figuring out how we stand on it,” he said.
According to Wasser, the debate among the alumni members parallels that occurring among the current undergraduates.
“The alumni just want to preserve what they enjoyed when here and to figure out the best way to do that and carry on the traditions,” he said.
According to Gottlieb, the brothers had come to no definitive conclusions about the option of going co-educational and that the issue is still being debated.
“It’s our decision, not the University’s decision,” he said. “We’re a self-governing organization and we have been for 160 years.”
Should the fraternity vote against becoming coed and lose program house status, Gottlieb said he is pessimistic about its ability to survive.
“It’ll mean that we won’t be able to maintain an organization on campus,” Gottlieb said.
Leave a Reply