Fifteen members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at Dartmouth College have resigned from the chapter because the national fraternity ruled that two Jewish students pledged by the Dartmouth group could not become members.
The 15, including all officers of the local chapter except the president, quit when the chapter agreed to remain within the national body despite the ruling. Spokesmen for the 15 said that the chapter had previously agreed to “stand by” the two Jewish pledges and therefore should have withdrawn from the national organization in protest.
The local chapter has been active in recent years in fighting discrimination within the national Sigma Phi Epsilon and has accepted in membership several Jews, in complete disregard of constitutional bans on “non-Caucasians.” When the national group found out about this situation, it offered a “compromise:” that the Jews who were already members continue as members, but that the pledges be rejected. This situation was finally accepted by the local chapter, and the 15 resigned.
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