The Rise and Fall of Fraternities at Williams College

This book tells the story of the beginnings, the blossoming, and the eventual banishment of fraternities at Williams College, together with the ensuing transformation of Williams, based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, as the old fraternal order was replaced with a new residential system in the nineteen-sixties and after. A key figure emerged: John Sawyer, president of the college between 1961-1973. In John Chandler’s measured recounting of events, Sawyer oversaw not only the end of fraternity life at the college, but positioned Williams for its subsequent ascent to the top tier of liberal arts colleges.