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Dartmouth College May Withdraw Frat Support

The college believed to be the setting for the movie "Animal House" may soon find itself without the very fraternities that once made it famous.

The Dartmouth College faculty council unanimously recommended on Monday that the New Hampshire school no longer recognize the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority (CFS) System. The council's decision comes a month after a high-level college steering committee found that many problems often associated with Greek life nationwide--such as binge drinking, sexual harassment and hazing--are also prevalent in the Dartmouth system. The report recommended general reforms for the system, including new restrictions on serving alcohol at Greek parties and a sharp reduction in the number of students allowed to live in single-sex fraternities and sororities.

Monday's vote, upon a proposal brought to the faculty council by Professor of Religion Susan Ackerman, would affect the approximately 40 percent of Dartmouth students who are members of CFS organizations.

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Ackerman said she introduced the more strongly worded proposal because she thought the steering committee's recommendations were insufficient.

"Many of us are just no longer convinced that reform is possible--we've tried that and it hasn't worked," Ackerman said.

She said the exclusivity of the Greek system on campus conflicts with the school's mission.

"I don't believe, fundamentally, that we should have selective social organizations at Dartmouth," she said. "It's contradictory to our principles."

The college currently gives official support to campus Greek organizations by supplying personnel, facilitating billing and providing programming grants--services without which many CFS organizations could not survive, Ackerman said.

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