I pledged a fraternity in the deep south in 1968, convinced during rush that the food was worth the dues. The membership was more diverse than the Omegas in Animal House. They had integrated two years earlier (in spite of an attempt by some racist alumni to keep the group white). The members and our pledge class included Jews, a Lebanese Christian, a member of the SDS, an ROTC leader, at least one gay guy, some cool people, some stoners and acid heads, and lots of nerds (I was one of that subgroup). Everyone got along. But two years after I joined, two of the nerds who thought they were in the cool faction tried to normalize the fraternity’s identity and blackballed a Jewish candidate during rush. A bunch of us resigned in protest. The normalizers lied to the national organization about why people had left — lots of folks moving to another town — and soon this glorious experiment in open-minded open admission was over.

The point of my ramble: We have to work constantly to hold on to whatever progress we make. Your honest and perceptive recollection is an important way to do that.