A
COMMON PURPOSE
THE GROWTH OF FRATERNITY JASON H. NOLEN-DOERR, J.D.
In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, a recurring theme surrounds ‘the room where it happened’ where key decisions are made. In the musical, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton meet privately to reach a compromise that ultimately shapes the future of the country. This scenario is common throughout fraternal history—a number of people come together around shared values before running forward to create organizations that would withstand war, economic turmoil, social divide, and rising costs of an undergraduate education. It is this history that can provide a blueprint of how to approach the conundrum of open expansion within a local Interfraternity Council.
Issue #4 PERSPECTIVES 20
