Can a co-ed fraternity still be called a fraternity?

Jessica Chasmar of the Washington Times reported.

Wesleyan rules fraternities must start accepting women

Fraternities at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, must start accepting women and all residential fraternities must become fully co-educational over the next three years, the school’s Board of Trustees has ruled.

The decision was made “with equality and inclusion in mind,” school President Michael Roth and Trustee Chairman Joshua Boger wrote in an email to students on Monday, Business Insider reported. “Our residential Greek organizations inspire loyalty, community and independence. That’s why all our students should be eligible to join them.”

The school has focused on issues with Greek life ever since a woman filed a lawsuit against Wesleyan two years ago alleging she was sexually assaulted at a Beta Theta Pi house and that the house was known around campus as the “Rape Factory.”

“This change is something that Wesleyan and the fraternities have been contemplating for many years, and now the time has come,” the email continued. “[W]e are hopeful that groups across the University will continue to work together to create a more inclusive, equitable and safer campus.”