Life Isn't a Kosher Deli

SINCE the turn of the century when it was simply another bastion of fine American WASPdom, Harvard has slowly evolved into a more open-minded institution.

Last week, 35 Harvard men stopped that evolution dead in its tracks. The revival of a Harvard chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu, a predominantly Jewish national fraternity, is a giant leap backwards for a community that strives towards diversity.

It is ironic that members of a religious group that has long sought inclusion both at Harvard and in society at large would voluntarily remove themselves from the mainstream of campus life. Unfortunately, the development adds to a disturbing trend in which many American Jews define their lives solely within the Jewish community.

LIKE the nine all-male finals clubs, the fraternity is not officially affiliated with the University, since College policy prohibits recognition of discriminatory or nationally affiliated organizations.

Comparisons to final clubs do not end there. Although Sigma Alpha Mu's local officers say that their group will not base membership on race, religion or soci-economic status, members acknowledge that the group is all male and relatively homogenous.

And while the officers say they will encourage members to participate in public service, it's hard to believe that the raison d'etre of the group is a public service crusade. If they were so gung ho on community work, why didn't they just join Phillips Brooks House Association?

Regardless of what some of the officers say, members acknowledge that the club's primary purpose is social.

THE existence of any selective social organization at Harvard smacks of elitism and raises serious ethical questions. But the formation of Sigma Alpha Mu is especially troubling--at least to Harvard's Jewish community--because it reflects an unfortunate trend in American Judaism today.

Jewish parents too often encourage their teenage children to consort only with other Jews, and Jewish fraternities and sororities across the country reinforce this sentiment. After graduation, some of these Jews consciously seek out Jewish networks--a direct carryover from college Greek life--to break into employment.

A common anti-Semitic sentiment is that a network of powerfully placed Jews conspires to control the world. At their worst, members of fraternities such as Sigma Alpha Mu seem to wish that such a network existed so they could take advantage of it.

There is a need for a strong Jewish community. In the post-Holocaust era, Jews realize that their survival may depend on ties to other Jews and to Israel. But organizations such as Sigma Alpha Mu represent more than just an honest attempt at religous and cultural activity such as that which exists at Hillel. Jewish fraternities stand for a self-enclosed world, with a secondary role for non-Jews.

The survival of Jews in America and the modern world depends on the ability to live in a secular society that bears little resemblence to a kosher deli.