Student leaders demand 'wealthy and white' frat houses become ‘affinity housing’ for 'marginalized' students

The student union president at Washington University at St. Louis is proposing that the school’s fraternities cede their houses for use as “affinity housing” for “marginalized” students. 

University staff should end their contracts with all Interfraternity Council Fraternities on campus, Ranen Miao argued recently in Student Life, in large part because fraternities are “disproportionately wealthy and white.”

Affinity housing could be used for ”Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, MENA, low-income, international, LGBTQIA+, female, Muslim, Jewish and differently-abled students,” Miao wrote in the independent newspaper at the university. 

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The article included a list of 49 student leader signatories to the proposal. 

Signers included the president of WashU’s Women and Non-Binary Multi-Cultural Association, president of WashU Pride Alliance, the Facilitator with Transcending gender, president of Teaching Racial Understanding Through Honesty, and the president of WashU College Democrats. 

In November, Campus Reform featured University of Washington in St. Louis as part of its Campus Profile series. 

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The university has 34 liberal student organizations and 10 conservative student groups. Less than 8% of employees gave to Republican candidates in 2020 election cycle with over 92% donating to Democrats in that same time period. 

Campus Reform has reached out to Miao and Washington University for comment; this article will be updating accordingly.