Letter to the Editor: Advice on Sanctions

To the Editor:

Kudos to President Faust and Dean Khurana on their bold decision to take action against these scions of the status quo: unrecognized single-gender social organizations. In the fullness of time, this policy of perfect inclusion will doubtless notch a page in the annals of the small triumphs of democracy. But any fool can praise; the trick now lies in how to consolidate the gains of the new policy.

Wisely, President Faust and Dean Khurana have left the scope of “unrecognized” single-gender organizations vague. Why not advance against single-sex organizations of all pernicious stripes: single-sex book clubs (surely the nourishment of a worthy book should be shareable with all Eves and Adams), single-sex singing societies (the joy of song should extend to all voices, not just the lower registers), single-sex rooming groups (for what can impress a young mind more than the society of one’s roommates), and the mother of exclusion, single-sex sporting teams, to name but a thimbleful? Single sex card gatherings, exercise groups, gaming guilds—the possibilities could fill the stacks of Widener.

And let the punishment fit the crime. While the administration must begin incrementally, the institutions in its crosshairs—final clubs—need a lashing they won’t forget. My concern is that the ban on leadership positions and top fellowships will do little to prejudice their activities (members of these clubs typically aspire scant beyond their atavistic ways). Surely under the rubric of “leadership” we can conjure broadly: captains and co-captains, presidents and treasurers, coxswains and strokes, quarterbacks and strikers. In time, we can extend it to all starters, reserves and even club teams. Ultimately however, the punishments must be more draconian—a banishment from on-campus housing and, eventually, summary dismissal. But I have little fear but that over time President Faust and Dean Khurana will employ the new policies to squeeze these benighted institutions until their pips squeak.

Sic semper tyrannis!

Yours in Veritas,

Sven Krogius '87

Sven Krogius '87 lives in Dallas, TX.