Elite Swiss university ordered to recognise all-male student society

One of Switzerland’s top universities was wrong to sideline a male-only student association, according to a Federal Administrative Court ruling.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) was ordered by the court to recognise the Zofingia fraternity, which traces its roots back to 1819. The court ruled that freedom of association takes precedence over equality in this case.

Drinking, singing, fencing – these are probably the common images that people associate with a fraternity. At Zofingia, a student association spread throughout Switzerland, there is no longer any fighting, but in other respects the association has remained traditional: women are not allowed. …