pledge rituals contributed to homogeneity and the de-emphasis of the individual… In 1991 Panarchy dropped its Greek letters and found its opposition within the CFSC coming to a critical point. They held that alcohol abuse in the context of gender inequality contributed to rape and sexual harrassment additionally alcohol use in conjuncion with demeaning. In addition, Phi Psi/Panarchy further marginalized itself from the Greek community by becoming a dry house in the mid eighties… Phi Psi/Panarchy was a source of agitation for the CFSC the house frequently criticized the Greek system’s gender discrimination, demeaning rush and pledge processes, and especially the dominance of alcohol. Phi Psi/Panarchy, as it called itself in the late eighties, was casually referred to as the DGLO adjunct (Dartmouth Gay and Lesbian Organization), much as Panarchy undergraduate society was considered the residential arm of the DRA (Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance) throughout the nineties. This was occurring at a time when conservative repression of gays at Dartmouth was making its last stand, most notably represented by the infamous “Tri-Kap purge.” In 1980 Kappa Kappa Kappa amended its constitution to explicitly forbid “overt homosexual activities” associated with the house, including “open expression of homosexuality or dancing with members of the same sex in the house or while representing the fraternity.” This action eventually resulted in the expulsion of nine brothers in 1984, allegedly because of their sexual orientation. The house became ‘othered’ by the rest of campus, it became “strange” and “weird”, vague terms which attempted to signify (white conservative male) discomfort with a house which integrated deeply rooted dichotomies (black/white, female/male, gay/straight) with a liberal political agenda and the use of mind altering substances. There was an implicit understanding that Phi-Psi was a subordinate fraternity, and the campus (read: Greek) impression of the house revolved around its drug use, “hippie” culture, “punk” music, and homosexual contingent. Phi Psi thus distinguished and alienated itself from the Greek System in the 1970’s, and began to gain a reputation similar to that of co-ed’s that followed in its wake, namely the Tabard. According to the myth, Phi Psi went co-ed the day the college admitted women, and even beforehand it had housed female boarders from sister schools. Phi Psi was the first fraternity at Dartmouth to go co-ed, breaking with one of the schools oldest and newly challenged traditions. The house’s motto reflected its philosophy: “Multi animi, sed unus animus” – Many souls, but still one soul, and it seemed that the diversity of souls was the key ingredient. Phi Psi didn’t take itself too seriously there was a way in which they felt that the whole idea of fraternity was “schmaltzy”. This story is important to the mutal history of Phi Sigma Psi and Panarchy in that it illustrates the origins of the house’s commitment to liberal ideals and diversity. When another case involving possible prejudice was brought before the national in 1967, the membership of Phi Kappa Psi realized that no progress had been made toward abolishing discrimination: they voted to go local and changed their name to Phi Sigma Psi. complained to the national that this action was the result of racial prejudice, and asked for the blackball to be removed.” Although an eventual ruling by the ominously named ‘Grand Arch Council’ sided with Dartmouth’s Phi Psi, the national did not change its charter to prohibit discrimination expressly. However, a visiting member of a California chapter of Phi Kappa Psi filed a ‘transchapter blackball’ against Mr. “In 1966, admitted into its pledge class one Joseph Wright. Previously it had taken only one no-vote against a pledge to deny admission into the fraternity. Phi Sigma Psi, in turn, evolved from the long and glorious tradition of the national fraternity Phi Kappa Psi, which was the ninth Greek letter organization at Dartmouth, founded in 1896… In 1963 Phi Psi had voted to eliminate lone member ‘blackballs’. The story of Panarchy, the undergraduate society, is embedded in the history of its predecessor, Phi Sigma Psi, the fraternity.
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