Wesleyan Fraternities to Go Co-Ed

Olin Library, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut

Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., one of the most liberal higher education institutions in the country, is moving to make its fraternities co-educational within the next three years.

The move comes at the request of the student government, at a time when colleges and universities nationwide are under growing scrutiny for the way they handle sexual violence on campus.

Wesleyan's trustees and administrators say the change isn't a response to any one thing, even though they've clashed in recent years with fraternities, and suspended one, Beta Theta Pi, for a year, after a woman fell from a third-story window during a party this month. Several years earlier, a woman had reported being raped at the frat house.

"People are concerned with how this policy is going to be implemented," said Nicole Brenner, a senior at Wesleyan. She's also vice president of the school's Student Assembly. "I think that another question that people have is, is this really going to solve the problem?"

In this interview, Brenner talks with WNYC's Amy Eddings about how students at the school are reacting to the administration's decision.

With The Associated Press