"Fraternity" by Steve Karp

Collection

Call Number: MS240

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Scope and Contents

This collection contains two copies of "Fraternity," a play by Tufts alumnus Steve Karp (1965) based on his experiences during the debate about opening Tufts' fraternities to Jews.

Dates

Creation: 2006

Creator

Karp, Steve (Person)

Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Please see “Reproductions and Use” on the Digital Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permission to publish. Any intellectual property rights that the donor possesses have not been transferred to Tufts University.

Biographical / Historical

Stephen A. Karp graduated Tufts University in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in Government and Political Science. He grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where he was heavily involved in community baseball programs. His passion for sports led him to play for both the Tufts’ Football (All-East halfback) and Baseball (All-East catcher) teams. While at Tufts, he was a member of Sword and Shield, the Ivy Society, Operation Crossroads Africa, International Relations Club, and the Athletic Association, and also served as Class Vice-President. Karp was also a brother of Delta Tau Delta (DTD), a fraternity whose racially and religious exclusionary policies during the 1960s caused Karp to struggle with his Jewish identity. Karp received offers to play for the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox, but rejected those offers to pursue a career in arts production. After several years in the arts, Karp used DTD as inspiration for his play, “Fraternity”. The play addresses the dilemma he felt as one of only two Jewish brothers in Delta Tau Delta; Karp recalls feeling “moral anxiety” over maintaining his religious identity and his role in DTD. Although Karp wrote the play much after he left Tufts, DTD had already made efforts to be more inclusive. In 1969, the fraternity opened recruitment to anyone who was interested, in hopes of creating a more diverse future. Many Tufts alumni, who attended the play in 2005, credit Karp for creating a path, not only in Delta Tau Delta but at the university, for Jewish students to follow.

Extent

.1 Linear Feet (2 volumes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

This collection contains copies of "Fraternity," a play by Tufts alumnus Steve Karp (1965) based on his experiences during the debate about opening Tufts' fraternities to Jews.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in one series.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred by the Assistant Secretary of the Corporation, 2018, accession MS-2018-039.

Processing Information

Processing of this collection was completed by Leah Edelman in 2018. Materials were placed in archival folders, item and series-level descriptions were created, and a finding aid was created at the time of processing.