Co-ed mandate for Greek life reversed at Trinity College

Trinity College in Connecticut, has decided to reverse its co-education mandate for Greek organizations.

The mandate was announced in 2012, after a committee with the purpose of changing social life on the campus released a report titled “Charter for Building Social Community at Trinity College.”

The report detailed plans not only for Greek life, but for other social spaces and a new student code. The report stated that the majority of the faculty and a portion of the committee were in favor of completely abolishing the Greek system.

Eighty-two percent of the student population voted against the mandate, but it was not repealed until Trinity President Berger-Sweeney reversed the mandate set by her predecessor.

“Gender equity is, and remains, an ongoing priority for Trinity College,” Berger-Sweeney wrote in a letter to the student body. “Furthermore, I do not believe that requiring coed membership is the best way to address gender discrimination or to promote inclusiveness. In fact, community-wide dialogue concerning this issue has been divisive and counterproductive.”

This is not the first time the college has attempted something of this nature; the school tried a similar policy 23 years ago.

Even though the policy was in place for the 2014-2015 school year, no male student has joined a sorority and no female student has joined a fraternity.


Other schools have tried similar co-ed mandates, such as Wesleyan University, which has been sued for sex discrimination by a fraternity.

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