If you want strong fraternities, you need tort law reform. The entire system is broken, at the fraternity organizational and university level. As a result, national fraternity organizations have morphed into strange captive insurance models, driven solely by recruiting as many "brothers" as possible. They need big numbers to spread the risk. If a particular chapter is perceived as either not raising enough dues (premiums) or as a liability risk, they are jettisoned. No fraternity today is anything like what they were 20 years ago. They are risk assessors, who are selling an idea to students.
For the schools, they will never be popular, because they are a liability. They add nothing to the school but risk. They add no profit to the school. The only benefits are intangible. Rutgers, specifically, has been appallingly bad at understanding the value of intangibles - student experience - and what that means for financial support 10, 20 or 30 years in the future.
As another poster said, fraternities form a weak group that is easy to attack. When a student drinks himself to death, people say the student should have known better. When a fraternity student drinks himself to death, people looking to make a name for themselves start saying "ban the fraternities." People watching the financial bottom line seize that opportunity. Kill 2 birds with one stone - save money, get rid of a headache.
Only when there is no liability exposure will you see schools take a more ambivalent approach.
For the schools, they will never be popular, because they are a liability. They add nothing to the school but risk. They add no profit to the school. The only benefits are intangible. Rutgers, specifically, has been appallingly bad at understanding the value of intangibles - student experience - and what that means for financial support 10, 20 or 30 years in the future.
As another poster said, fraternities form a weak group that is easy to attack. When a student drinks himself to death, people say the student should have known better. When a fraternity student drinks himself to death, people looking to make a name for themselves start saying "ban the fraternities." People watching the financial bottom line seize that opportunity. Kill 2 birds with one stone - save money, get rid of a headache.
Only when there is no liability exposure will you see schools take a more ambivalent approach.