By Alicia Method, Staff Writer
Historically, social Greek organizations have been divided by gender, with male students joining fraternities and female students joining sororities. Recently, this division has been challenged on college campuses across the nation.
On Monday, February 21, and Wednesday, February 23, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) hosted events to gauge interest in a gender-inclusive Greek organization. The event was facilitated by GSRC Director Amanda Del Gaudio and Assistant Director of the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life (OSAGL) Trevor McClenon.
These events were inspired by a group of Gettysburg College students who expressed interest in a gender-inclusive Greek organization. While these students have since graduated, Del Gaudio and McClenon wanted to evaluate what feedback would look like for this organization.
Del Gaudio described the research that she and McClenon used to prepare for these events. “We did some quick Google searches to see what National Organizations other colleges and universities had on their campus that were LGBTQ+ focused and/or Gender Inclusive, but ultimately wanted any decisions or feedback to come from students,” Del Gaudio said.
The meetings were sparsely attended. Del Gaudio stated, “No one attended the first meeting on Monday, and only one student came to the meeting on Wednesday.”
This feedback, or lack thereof, resulted in Del Gaudio and McClennon inferring that there is no, or limited interest for such an organization at this time.
However, Del Gaudio said, “If a group of students ever comes to us in the future and expresses that they would like to start a Gender Inclusive/LGBTQ+ focused Greek Organization on campus, we will absolutely assist them in doing so.”
Del Gaudio also stated a reminder that the GSRC aims “to build resources based on what students need/want.” Therefore, these meetings were still an important way for the Center to connect with students and survey their thoughts, even if attendance was low.
