Swarthmore College will no longer allow fraternities and sororities

Swarthmore, Pa. – Fraternities and sororities will no longer be allowed at Swarthmore College following outrage over years-old documents allegedly written by one fraternity that contain derogatory comments about women and the LGBTQ community, and jokes about sexual assault. 

“Fraternities and sororities will no longer exist at the College,” school President Valerie Smith announced Friday on the college’s website.  

Swarthmore’s decision comes about a week after the only two fraternities at the private liberal arts college in suburban Philadelphia decided to disband following the internal documents’ release. 

“The voluntary disbanding of Phi Psi and Delta Upsilon reflects a broader change in student needs and desires. Exclusive, dues-paying social organizations no longer effectively meet the needs of our residential liberal arts environment,” Smith wrote in her statement.

Smith said the school’s lone sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, can continue with its current members through the spring 2022 semester but can’t recruit or initiate new members. 

At the center of the controversy was a non-residential Swarthmore fraternity house, CBS Philly reported. Signs from protesting students covered what was dubbed in the exposed documents as a “rape attic.”  

In this April 29, 2019, file photo, Swarthmore College students gather outside the Phi Psi fraternity house during a sit-in, in Swarthmore, Pa. AP