Is it time for colleges and universities to move away from the fraternity system?

Over the past few years, high-profile incidents have been piling up that put the campus societies in a negative light. Critics point to incidents showing fraternity brothers allegedly involved in racist displays, sexual assaults or even deaths from hazing.

Some schools have taken steps like banning hard liquor or expelling individuals for misbehavior. But some critics argue that those moves don’t go far enough. Individual incidents of misbehavior, they say, aren’t outliers—they are signs of a harmful culture that needs to be removed from higher education.

Fraternity boosters insist that the societies remain a positive force on campus, molding young men in positive ways and doing other good work for the community. Some critics, meanwhile, argue that statistics about fraternity misbehavior are overblown and some notorious incidents were misrepresented.

Alexandra Robbins, the author of “Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities,” makes the case for moving away from fraternities. Georgianna L. Martin, an assistant professor for student affairs administration/higher education at the University of Southern Mississippi, argues for keeping the system.