We all (well, almost all) thought Animal House was way funny and went away feeling that the basic enemy of frat rats was the college administration. It turns out that the real enemies of fraternities are minorities and women. Frat activities, it seems, are largely excuses to drink far too much and compete for the title of the most loathsome young man imaginable.
When dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I was in an all-male social club in college (no national fraternities allowed on campus). The hazing was humiliating, but it was not life-threatening. The club had a "sister" all-female club. The two clubs worked together on community projects and social events. Many of the men in my club had "girl friends" in the women's club.
Of course, there was too much drinking and juvenile male behavior. But, what I realized as I thought about my experience is that the presence of our sister club served as a brake on any vile treatment of women and the fact that the club was racially integrated curbed any overt racism.
This brings me to the point of this missive. As long as universities tolerate all male and all white organizations, the crap that we see happening in frat houses across the nation will not end. The sense of white male entitlement, and anger at its diminution, will continue to fester in these seething germ pits and infect those who enter or simply brush past. This will only get worse as more challenges arise to that sense of entitlement.
The era of white male social dominance is on the wane. Fraternities are anachronistic institutions better suited to the first half of the last century. They are vestigial organizations that our society can easily lose without affecting its health. In fact, their loss will be protective of our social health.
It's time for the the good ol' boys to empty their whiskey bottles into the fire, watch the alcohol burn away, pack up their toys, and join the rest of us in the 21st Century as adults.