what in the world has happened to fraternities!! or the culture??? this system has been around forever without these problems. i'm ancient. i went to the university of colorado, boulder in 1962. my husband 1962 went to university of miami where he was a sigma chi and played football.
at boulder we had greek week in the spring with chariot racing and toga parties, then there were grape and grain parties where u dressed up as hayseeds and drank this weird concoction, lots of parties. but nobody got killed pledging or hurt at parties. same story at u m. jim said the sigma nu's next door had bigger parties and furniture held up with cinder blocks--but no deaths, nobody hurt at parties. how did that turn into this??
of course there was the draft and jim was also doing air force rotc and then off to--as robin williams puts it in good morning vietnam--VEE ET NAM!!!
where he did 2 tours flying f-4's so not all parties.
5
Exploitation of your fellow humans is at the heart of the frat-boy mentality. Take away their right to violence, how are these future Wall Street crooks and NRA members going to adapt?
6
After you graduate from High School -
3 years mandatory Public Service.
Then if you wish to continue your education the
The government will pay for 3/4th the cost.
A college education spent on immature students who rather
party and get sloshingly drunk is a waste of an education.
8
Let's be honest. Before long single women and men will be eating in separate areas from families in dining establishments. All women (by choice, through social pressure, eventually by law) will be covered in hijabs, nijabs, and burkas. Men will be having (self) sex in virtual reality safe spaces. This is the world that Houellebecq anticipated, and we are doing it to ourselves by being oblivious to we are and where we came from.
7
Back in January 1977, I was on a three-week-long 'course' at Zell am See in the Insbruck Valley that combined skiing tuition in the morning with classroom German lessons in the afternoon. There was a large contingent of male and female students from Berkeley, University of California, who much to my amazement, I discovered, could claim credit towards their university degree merely by attending the course.
What was even more amazing to me, however, was the extraordinarily immature attitude of the male students, especially when it came to the consumption of alcohol into the wee hours. The girls were all sensible and level headed, but many of the guys were complete idiots. They behaved as if they had never tasted alcohol before leaving California and flying to Austria. Which, apparently, many of them hadn't because, they told me, the legal age to enter a bar in California was twenty-one.
It was obvious to me even back then that young, privileged, white – they were all white – American college males had a drinking problem.
6
The Greek system is inherently racist, classist, sexist and isolating. Why would any university tolerate let only promote these institutions? Oh, I remember now.....money.
4
As a graduate of 4 universities (BA, MS, MFA, PhD), and university professor, I say high time the frat boy mentality goes by the bye.
3
I still don't know what purpose Fraternities and Sororities exist for.
5
As Capt. Renault might say, shocked, shocked to learn frats do this stuff. Penn State’s “ban” won’t last the winter.
2
I am one of the three fraternity advisors to a 103 year old fraternity at Iowa State University. Our chapter GPA is 3.31. We had 12 4.0 GPA members last semester. We have had 2 Rhodes Scholars since 1975. We used to be a "wet" chapter- allowing alcohol 24/7. For over a decade we have been 100% dry. No alcohol on the property period. We have a twenty minute rule on drugs--we catch you with drugs and in twenty minutes you will own nothing in the building--it will all be sitting on the curb. Best thing we ever did. Academics are solid, the young men we pledge better, achievement high and growing.
If the young men want alcohol they can still find it, but consumption is way way off. one third of our members don't drink at all. Fraternities remain a great place to live, learn and grow. Look for a dry one.
5
Good riddance. Far too often, the entertainment industry has portrayed fraternities in a comical lightweight way that always failed to show the true ugliness of it all. And far too often, those who were portrayed as the drunkards were young white conservative men. Not a good look these days.
3
"In a tragedy that horrified college administrators, students and parents, a 19-year-old Penn State sophomore, Timothy Piazza, died in February after a hazing ritual at Beta Theta Pi." Wrong. Mr. Piazza was murdered by members of Beta Theta Pi. There, I fixed it for you.
4
Just based on the article's headline, this is great news. Along with the rampant sexual harrassment we've heard of lately, Universities seem to have been like war zones till now where any nasty behaviour is tolerated. Time it stopped.
3
Enough!
Fraternities have earned their demise, they need to be held accountable and they need to be shut down. No one to blame but generations of crimes & misconduct across brothers.
Today's news is that beyond drugging one, or a few attendees at a party this Frat decided to drug everyone that drank from a large container at their party! Everyone was put at risk, just for attending.
Rutgers decided on a punishment of less than 3 years of suspension, for what amounted to mass assault. Hardly a deterrent nor example to others.
Colleges have a responsibility to put a end to this nonsense. Each incident is another lost opportunity.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Rutgers-University-Fraternity-Sigm...
The Sigma Chi fraternity is suspended at Rutgers until 2020
The suspension follows a party in September in which members of sorority Sigma Delta Tau say they were given tainted drinks
Sigma Chi members still on campus are prohibited from any and all fraternity activity, Rutgers said in a statement
3
It’s amazing what college kids get away with - rape, drug possession and distribution, public intoxication, riots when their sports teams win and on and on
This in an age of mass incarceration and light sentences for “white collar” crime
Close the frat houses and enforce the same laws on campus as off.
4
Why are the sororities being punished? What did a sorority do? Is it that their members go to fraternity parties? If so, others do too.
3
This is the Iowa Fraternity Leader. Case in point why these young men are incapable of monitoring themselves: “I’ve never had a conversation where somebody was, ‘Oh my gosh, I blacked out last night, how do I prevent that?’” he said. “People tend to think it’s funny. They are lighthearted about it.”
2
Gosh. You think they might just learn something? Now if they could drop the football player's degrees in sports management and underwater basket weaving, they really might learn something. Me and my night time colleagues who went to college after eight hours of minimum wage work didn't have the privilege of under age drinking. We got off work, dragged our butts to class, which we paid for, listened attentively, then went home and studied. Only to get up the next day, and do it all again. What were we thinking?
4
I was a high school senior in the late 80's and lived near a number of huge party schools in my state. As a girl (and a minor, at the time), I was allowed into these parties without anyone checking ID. All the behaviors (excepting the deaths, but in retrospect, that was divine providence) in this article were prevalent then. 18 drinks in 30 min? Sure. 'Chug and Blow'? Sure. Hazing? Sure. Borderline safety of women? Sure. I see Zero difference in the parties described above from 30 years ago.
The only way to stop fraternity (not campus) drinking is to revoke the chapters of the violators. Colleges have a huge alcohol problem, especially with the increased use of flavored alcohols, which appeal to younger drinkers and enable one to drink more, faster.
I now see it from the perspective of an ER physician.
5
"People tend to think it's funny, they're lighthearted about it" until a tragedy occurs. The Piazza family will never get their precious son back, victim of a callow group of shall we say politely, orifices, who themselves should pay a very high price for their kid's wrongful death. Frats and sororities exist perhaps as an outlet for those people who don't want to behave like adults--until it comes time to earn serious money, that is. Only the shallow American culture, fatally incapable of self-analysis, could produce such an embarrassing sociological example as a fraternity. Why not consign Greek societies to the scrapheap and move forward without them?
3
It's not the fraternities, it's not the parties, it's not the pledging; it's the alcohol.
Stop TV commercials, Stop sports endorsements, Stop Lemonade, Vanilla, and Peppermint flavored alcohol products.
This is the Beverage Industry following the Tobacco Industry game plan. By attracting young people to an addictive product, they get lifelong customers
3
Fraternities..... Organizations of young men who will do stupid things on occasion. Just like all young adults. I sincerely doubt that there has been any change in frequency of these offenses over the years. The prevalence of smart phone, surveillance, etc cameras along with the Intent make it much hard for these events to be swept under the rug.
Just more of the 1984 mentality, foisted on us by Liberals and their ilk, that continues to destroy our lives.
But what is the point of being in a fraternity if not to drink alcohol excessively?
1
Why has this taking so long? It’s because universities put their bottom line and academic standing above the health and welfare of their student body.
1
"Fraternities are a formidable force in college life, well financed, politically connected and a big source of alumni donations."
So are hormones. So are underdeveloped frontal lobes.
2
Much of the problem is not the fraternities themselves but this country's Calvinist attitudes toward alcohol. I was allowed to drink beer as a kindergartener. My serving was limited to an occasional third of a juice glass but beer was so ho-hum that I couldn't see wasting money on it as a teenager. Europeans generally teach their children the same way by allowing them a small serving of watered wine as children and progressing to a glass or two as teenagers. Once you learn that drinking alcohol isn't a rite of passage, it loses its seductive power.
1
Certainly the "Animal House" antics of many fraternities and sororities must stop. However, these groups are organized for academic and religious purposes as well (e.g. Phi Beta Kappa). When colleges, particularly state funded institutions, start curtailing civil rights including freedom of religion and assembly, they will be the ones on the wrong side of the law.
These kids have only themselves to blame. Hazing used to be a minor thing; a simply ritual like getting cold water poured on you, or being covered with whip cream, or having to line up and yell, “Yes sir!” But each year, the previous pledges would devise something worse or more painful, under the guise of, “I had to go through it so I’ll make it more difficult for the new guys; because I can.”
I see that there is some medical literature (pubmed.gov) about binge drinking in young adults and cognitive impairment. Has anyone ever looked at whether hard-drinking frat members have higher rates of dementia as older adults? Or do their brains recover from these repeated insults?
Fraternities are indeed the only place in American society where there’s a sheen of sober legitimacy shown to the outside world (to the non-members/non-privileged) but behind closed doors is the complete opposite—unless, of course, you look at literally every other place in American Society: the Catholic Church, evangelicals (see Roy Moore), Hollywood, Congress (DC is perhaps the best example going...), police departments, state governments, city governments, courthouses (here’s looking at you Mr. Thomas and Mr. Kozinski), etc., etc., etc., etc.
Mendacity. That’s the issue. Plain and simple. Mendacity.
1
It's about time universities started to stand their ground as academic institutions instead of party sites for recently legalized adults who have no experience and who think being an adult means doing whatever they want. That's particularly relevant with the newer generations whose maturity levels are low due to parental interference. Football prominence over academic requirements also encourage this atmosphere of uncontrolled behavior. Universities should get rid of these sport programs that do not offer any academic advantages and are only entertainment opportunities for communities that do not support educational excellence.
So proud of my son for trying to make a difference on the culture of drinking in fraternities....however, this isn't an issue just for University students or kids just turning 18, 20, or 21, depending on the state drinking age, as their rite of passage - it's a social problem. I socialize and work with adults that can't wait to go out and drink the night away ...and then they talk about how wasted they were and how funny so and so was...- why is it people feel the need to drink to excess to enjoy themselves...We need to get to a point where you can go out and enjoy yourself even if you aren't drinking. My heart goes out to any parents who have lost a child to alcohol poisoning - I can't even imagine the heartache they feel everyday.
1
Just a passing reference to the elephant in the room; the relationship between fraternities and alumni giving. For years it has been accepted as fact that fraternity and sorority alumni are more generous with their ongoing support. If true, it would be near impossible to prove that the reason was ‘Greek’ life rather than the selection bias of those more social and outgoing individuals who chose to participate.
1
It is high time that attention was given to these affairs. 64 years ago, I pledged a fraternity at the school I was attending -- and after just one of these occasions, I had the common sense to realize that this was not what I went to school for, and to continue it would be to my self detriment. I depledged, and have never regretted it.
I'm happy to see that others finally have arrived at my own conclusions.
I’ve got an even better idea.
How about getting rid of fraternities altogether? They have nothing to do with the mission of a modern university.
Just a thought …
2
What kind of person would revel in forcing another person to drink until they got sick? Not someone I would want as a friend.
4
Decades ago, I was in a sorority. We had rules about grades and behavior. I remember two cases of women coming back to the house drunk out of their minds. My sorority still teaches those standards. Why are sororities being lumped into this fraternity, macho mess?
1
"There is no guarantee, of course, that the new measures will ultimately change fraternity behavior or avert tragedies."
Ban frats and sororities!
1
This Greek drinking problem describes another planet from the one I went to college on. In 12 years, the only one I ever saw drunk was a professor, once. We were too busy with full-time studies and part-time jobs. Is this how the rich kids live?
2
Americans most certainly need more time to grow up and mature.
We have a very bad reputation abroad of over indulging with alcohol.
Rather embarrassing and unhealthy. Nothing good comes out of alcohol poisoning. We've created a toxic culture that has no control and this is no exception.
I question why any parent would allow their offspring to join frats and sororities. Waste of time, money and often life.
It is as simple as this. Get rid of fraternities and the drinking will take place somewhere else with far more students dying in auto crashes. I survived a "animal house" in the 60's and riding my bicycle without a helmet in grade school.
The deaths are tragic but the causation is in error. Just as prohibition forced drinking underground, raising the age to 21 and enforcing overly strict enforcement has created an environment of front loading and binge drinking to circumvent the monitors. I cannot recall any similar fatal incident when I was in college when 18 was the appropriate age. Do you really expect 20 year olds to attend a "mock tail" party of orange juice mixers? Isn't 18 old enough to serve in the armed services or to marry? Are not they also old enough to drink? It is unfortunate that many teens have not been properly instructed by their parents on how and when to drink and that has historically led to highway accidents and fatalities. Today that happens with cell phones - do we restrict the age of phone ownership? Why not better to regulate auto use versus artificial restrictions on drinking? Anyone know what the age to consume alcohol is in Europe? (ANSWER 16 to 18 and they don't have the problems which we have)
I’ve got an idea! How about parents refuse to pay for their children’s joining these drinking/party clubs? For all their ‘do-good’ embellishments that’s what they’re all about. and the stratification of college kids into an ‘I’m a member of X and you’re not’ schoolyard hierarchy. Foolishness!
1
Fifty years ago when I was a Berkeley undergrad, frats especially but also sororities were 'uncool'. They didn't fit in with the counter culture which was 'cool'. Then they became cool again in the 70s when disco culture came in. I worked as a dishwasher and pot washer in both sororities and fraternities to eat and I found them moronic, the culture stifling.
3
These so called "party schools" have reputations as frat heavy scenes where there is alot of drinking. That reputation is well known and well deserved. What is not well known however is how startingly severe the drug problem has become and how it has infiltrated D1 athletics programs and Greek systems at these schools. Oxycontin is now in the mix at these schools and the use of this drug and addiction to it has become epidemic. As a matter of fact, opioids are often handed out to pledges to help them endure the pain and horror of the hazing rituals. Other drugs such as cocaine, diverted ADD meds used as study drugs, club drugs such as "Molly" and cocaine and weed are also rampant, however the Oxycontin situation is destroying young peoples lives in large numbers these days, now accounting for over 64,000 overdose deaths per year Take a long, hard look at yourselves and your children before considering any "party school" with a "strong Greek tradition".
Drinking and Fraternity partying could coexist if law enforcement and the schools where these kids go to would just enforce the laws on the books. The Penn State tragedy is another fine example of those who accused who "Lawyered Up" while destroying evidence and trying to plead ignorance.
If you are going to drink then accept the consequences. Every College has a Code of conduct. I'm sure underage drinking is apart of that. Just enforce the Code. There is nothing wrong with Junior College for a few years to get your priorities straight.
Yes, instead kids live in a virtual world with less and less human interaction. Much better.
1
There should not be a connection to the funds of a college's fundraising capacity and frats and sororities. This conflict of interest alone should be cause for alternative rules. Or to the extreme, just close down the silly groups of alcohol laden young men and women who can learn alternative methods of 'courting' that don't involve alcohol. What good has come out of these odd groups throughout history?
One of my sons was an athlete at a D-1 university that does not allow fraternities. There were team initiation rituals to be sure as well as drinking that everyone knew went on. Another son attends a different university and belongs to a fraternity. Interestingly, the school disavows any connection with the fraternity but is only too happy to mention it in its literature for prospective students. There are initiation rituals and drinking.
So clearly, the hazing and drinking thing is not limited to fraternities. Most universities and parents know drinking and partying go on even if they don’t want to admit it. It happens in schools big and small; with and without frats or teams.
Alcohol abuse is a symptom of a larger problem. The problem is a lack of compassion and self respect. This is an American problem worthy of academia.
As the intellectual leaders of our nation, colleges and universities should be leading the charge in helping our youth come to grips with this modern challenge. Eliminating organizations is not the answer. It’s only an easy way to avoid liability by looking like you’re doing something.
If splitting the atom was the challenge for a previous academic generation, surely teaching compassion and self respect is an appropriate challenge for this one.
1
Fraternities and sororities are pointless; they are also dangerous. There are many other ways students can get to know each other. In my experience as a college professor of many years, once students join these groups, their grades plummet. Sexual assaults also occur with regularity, and college administrators, as we've seen in many cases, have no idea how to handle them.
Ban these organizations already. It's way past due.
1
My college (Colby) banned fraternities and sororities decades ago, and I don't see any news that it was a huge loss to the college or the community.
However, if the fraternity system wants to survive, it needs to find more civil ways to "haze" new members. Deaths due to fraternity activities is not an option. There are plenty of ways to entertain young folks other than excessive drinking. Farcical plays, silly games, and so on.
It's a challenge that colleges and these organizations need to meet. I hope they do.
even before the customer service era, which has seen an erosion of academic rigor, colleges and universities were given to extreme off-duty entertainment, usually fueled by alcohol.
the notion that allowing alcohol on campus makes trips to consume it and the risky drives back to school less likely has merit.
what, if memory serves, has happened is that the priorities have been reversed or, at least, equalized, the party is less a relief from the stresses of study than an alternative, and with that, other, social, stresses have risen and often, academic effort is seen as an interference...the banter in those moments before a class begins reflects this with anxieties connected rather to planning and succeeding in party activities stretching over the spreading weekend, now wednesday-to-sunday.
in this it is difficult to be critical of students while letting the administration, the deanery, etc., off the hook...the tendency toward convenience is perhaps an aspect of a culture that makes no demands on kids who have managed to construct impressive high school transcripts while avoiding clear thinking, critical reading and expressive writing, and so many come to college with, rather, a sense of entitlement
than disciplined study habits...and, at this juncture, colleges give in, with many departments, fearful of enrollment numbers, rather serving the lax habits of "customers" than challenging "students" to pursue the habits of mind that mark educated men and women.
We had frats and plenty of drinking in the 70's although pot was becoming more of a thing too. And stoners didn't fight as much or die. They just ate a lot. Although I did get hit in the head with a frisbee once. But I think in the 80s, the movie "Animal House" and others began to seriously glorify the totally out-of-control partying that is now becoming normalized. I think for the safety of our kids, it has to be reined in.
It's absurd to allow 22-year-olds to set the rules for partying. They just don't possess the judgment to do so responsibly. The Greeks create pressure on pledges to do stuff that, as we've seen, leads to bad outcomes, including death. I drank a lot when I was in my early 20s, but nobody was there pushing me to go beyond my limits. It's just a bad atmosphere; there's a grotesque aspect to Greek life that whatever good fraternities and sororities do can't erase.
One of the factors in my daughter's choice of a college was the fact that it had no Greek life or big athletic programs.
If alcohol were not to be served in "common areas" where then would it be served? Bedrooms, bathrooms, basements, closets? How does taking alcohol out of common areas and out of public view promote self policing if it becomes a more private and clandestine activity?
Sounds like a few more options need to be considered if young people are to be safe from alcohol poisoning and destructive behaviors associated with over-consumption of alcohol.
1
I was a GDI, in part because fraternity life seemed banal and partly because I was a serious student, which was clearly not the case with frats I met. Being outside the Greek system, however, I also heard a lot of stories from survivors of substance and sexual abuse in the sororities. These problems were rarely pursued by the governing structure because to do so would have been to expose a systemic problem. Thus for me, this push to rein in the parties is insufficient. I would NEVER let my child engage with any fraternal or sororal organization. The role of these organizations is little more than to abuse and to protect privilege. As a professor of two decades, experience has taught me that members constitute the bulk of the C- to B- range of minds.
1
Fraternities and drinking are tightly coupled, perhaps inextricably so. But it isn't just fraternities. 45 years ago when I was at a "dry" university, a party without lots of booze didn't exist.
Drinking, with or without fraternities, is coupled to all forms of sexual abuse. As a college student, I had what seemed like a consensual sexual encounter with a woman who -- the next morning -- had no recollection of it. Yet she was definitely present and enthusiastic. That's what having a blackout means.
Many errors in these comments. No, it's not just rich kids in frats. Yes, frats are different from teams and clubs - their social life absolutely revolves around alcohol. No, a different parental attitude to alcohol isn't a crucial difference - college students in the UK get hammered, too, even though the drinking age is 18. I propose that THE big problem with frats is the pledging tradition, run by macho guys. Sure, kids get drunk in the dorms, too, but it's not done under the same massive social pressure as in the frats. Lots of ugliness comes out of that pressure, not just deaths and rape.
56
Lord of the Flies
The high incidence in binge drinking and sexual nonsense is a societal and cultural problem that is not limited to the fraternity/sorority system by a long shot. We have some bizarre beliefs in the country that, for example, getting drunk repeatedly at college is just “part of the experience”. It’s those kind of attitudes from society as a whole (and reveled in by movies and social media) that foster bad behavior.
34
To all those bemoaning the end of "fun" as we once knew it for the poor, suffering fraternity and sorority members, please remember that none of this would have happened if an inexcusable pattern of fatalities and sexual misconduct at frat parties hadn't occurred across the country. Can we agree that there is something wrong here and Greek culture needs to change?
68
Yes, fraternities do community service and raise money for charity. But is not a major element of these fraternal Greek organizations the act of getting drunk, juiced up and sloppy, and then to have easy sex?
To paraphrase Dick Cavett from a long time ago, "I don't need to pay to have someone vomit on my shoes."
23
The "Animal House" era needs to end. If Universities actually cared about ending all of the drunken date rapes, hazing, and alcohol-abusing injuries, they'd actually close repeat offenders for good. I realize the greek houses are private property, and schools have little they can do about off-campus events, but they still have the right to ensure their students aren't being raped and killed by drunken idiots.
It's also time to end the joke called Campus Police on most college campuses. Get real police officers involved when Sandusky starts raping kids, or crimes are being committed.
24
Why would you bring Sandusky into this conversation?
1
Wow all the frat lawyers are on here saying the exact same PR things. Read the piece in the Atlantic.
13
These so-called Greek organizations have absolutely nothing to do with academics or learning or research. They are outlets for students to get drunk, commit sexual assaults, haze other young adults (sometimes fatally), and generally behave in a rowdy manner.
They can and should exist off-campus with no support from any university and no affiliation with any university. Their activities, as a private organization, would be subject to the limits of the general law. Their group homes should not be on campus and the university should do nothing to encourage or assist in their acquisition of members. They are an anachronism and a throwback to a time when colleges were thought of as much different places than they are, and should be, today.
45
"These so-called Greek organizations have absolutely nothing to do with academics or learning or research." Sounds to me like you are also talking about college sports. So let's trade: my frats and sororities for your sports "programs."
1
Only a sucker would say, or believe, that fraternities and sororities offer anything positive.
For those kids who will take their behavior off campus - expel them. It won't take many expulsions till news gets around.
Its a travesty that some people treat college like an entitlement to misbehave.
26
Can someone explain why the criminal and truly stupid stuff does not occur at sororities???? Please, go ahead. I'll wait........
39
Sororities binge drink at a rate 150% of what female dorm-attendees binge drink - so it is the exact same situation.
My daughter is in a sorority; no nonsense goes on at the actual sorority house. In fact, the sororities are pretty strict because they are run by a bunch of middle-aged women.
Sororities can also be so strict because they have a huge demand pool. Because of the demand, sororities can be very selective, especially if it's what all the college girls consider to be a "top house" at their campus (although the groups of girls that make up the different houses are indistinguishable to any adult woman). At my daughter's school, 1200 girls went through rush and most wanted one of 6 houses. That's 1200 girls vying for approximately 400 spots.
Even the selective fraternities can't be that selective. Plus they're filled with 18-21 yo guys instead of girls.
Sadly, despite her great scholarship and other perks bestowed on her, I believe without a doubt that had she not gotten her top choice sorority, my daughter would have wanted to change schools after the first semester. It's maddening as a parent to see the power these organizations hold.
Thank goodness my son went to A&M, where Greek life is fairly insignificant. Fraternity hazing is out of control.
1
Because the sorority women are all drinking and getting sexually assaulted at fraternity parties; staying behind in a sorority house during frat parties is a mark of rejection. Both institutions reinforce sex roles in highly destructive ways.
Why are these students not being punished for underaged drinking? Start suspending and expelling them for this.
6
Want to cut down on drinking related problems on campus? Outlaw tail-gating parties at college football games. And no alcohol served in the stands. That would cut down on 99% of campus behavior problems.
Most of those wanting restrictions on the Greek system either didn't want to join or were not selected to join. Pathetic attempts at restricting others they can't be with. Kinda like real Federal court nominees.
4
So eliminating behaviors at events that only occur 2 1/2 months a year will cut the problem by 99%? You aren't good at thinking.
1
Aw gee, are the partying frat boys going to have to do what they're actually in college to do, and learn things? Such a shame.
I went to college, and the view of frats and to a lesser extent sororities, is that they were hard-drinking, hard-drugging, mean little cliques that got a feeling of strength by excluding others. All the worst gossip about date rape was about incidents in the "greek" system (nothing to do with Greece except using letters from their alphabet, really).
This idea though, that, "fraternities have long argued that punishing them — or banning them altogether — would simply move the activity elsewhere", is just flat out incorrect. In college I went to a lot of non-frat parties, and did drink a lot of booze and smoke considerable marijuana, and worse yet, cigarettes. But people didn't beat freshmen to death at non-frat parties as a price of admission. People didn't push kids to get so drunk they passed out, and I never saw nor heard of date rape going on.
Frats (and Sors to a lesser extent) have that code of Omerta, and the notion that hazing enforces people sticking with this pay-for-friends club, which allows all the horror stories. Eliminate the system, or alter it completely (like the 5-beer party under the fluorescent lights), and the associated problems will vanish.
33
If the students at my state universities are deprived of fraternities and have to spend their time studying instead of partying or drinking--then that is a better use of my taxpayer dollar.
If you're just going to college to party and get so drunk that people die, please stay home and let somebody else have your spot at that college.
Maybe these frats that have so much alumni money to burn should use their cash to give scholarships to low income students, instead of funding brats who think they are entitled to party so hard they harm others.
32
What if there were no Frat Houses? Perhaps young men entering college would grow up faster and better if they did not live in ritualized cult-like conditions, and not enticed by Lord of the Flies-type social dynamics?
44
What needs to change is the culture around drinking, where 17 year-olds who are desperate to make friends start drinking like alcoholics as soon as they get to campuses, and that doesn't relent with time. What honestly is the point of drinking until you are drunk or more than drunk? Why can't people just be satisfied with a "buzz" to have a good time? Everyone needs to reflect and grow up a little, be mature, and take responsibility for their own actions. Getting drunk and/or severely impaired is NOT necessary to have a "good time," so let's stop tacitly condoning that type of behavior.
17
frats been needed to be banned. decades ago. they are a danger to everyone and have no redeeming quality or value, unless you consider retrograde tribal loyalty regardless of merit and worth "good value"
20
If fraternities and sororities are banned, where will people learn the proper way to binge drink? Television? Insufficient.
2
"No" to Greek fraternities; "Yes" to Greek honor societies!
Organizations such as Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, etc., should be the goal to achieve entry into where there is definitely no hazing or criminal behaviors. Books over Brews would be a good slogan to push for this movement ;)
My lifetime membership into 5 such Greek honor societies is a marker of my success in college and helped me turbo start my career.
11
In these university towns the "townie" local cops, the state liquor authority and the town politicians all assume the proverbial ostrich position. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Someone sells underage youth carry out liquor, and the local pubs need to have their licenses lifted for underage sales. Then the university police need to do surprise raids on all on campus Greek houses. In the age of computers it is easy to match student ID cards with records. Discipline the underage drinkers with probation. Second offense merits an expulsion hearing. All state legislatures who have failed to criminalize hazing (there may be a few) need to do so and local prosecutors need to do their job where hazing is already criminalized. Though prohibition did not work, regulation on the lawful use of alcohol is necessary.
6
David Chu is right. Tighter restrictions on student parties don't stop illicit behavior. They push the behavior around to other places. I went to a school where fraternities were banned. I've been to some of these organized campus parties too. I guarantee the event employees were cleaning up early because the students had already moved on to somewhere else. Where's the after party? The Phi Kappa Psi event was probably a pre-game anyway.
You can get rid of the fraternity but you can't get rid of the students. Terry Hartle provides a rather honest explanation. Colleges don't actually care about the parties. They just want to eliminate the risk. Once the issue becomes the town's problem, you'll start seeing noise ordinances enforced. Students will then start establishing party houses in more remote areas where noise pollution isn't a problem. The police will then respond to an increase in DUI violations and so on.
You can try making last call earlier too but most students don't care about bars because their either underage, poor, or both. A bar is more or less like a campus party. You start there just to see what people are doing later. Alternatively, a bar is meeting place after any parties get broken up. The bar isn't really a destination in itself. This is how college campuses work.
As such, I find policing fraternities is a rather pointless gesture. If you happen to save a life, great. Otherwise, you're just exporting a campus problem onto the local community.
5
No frats, no hazing.
Nothing wrong with frats and sororities,many do an incredible amount of community service and charitible work at their schools. While i was not a frat member in college, a couple eof my brothers and sisters were and 40 yrs later they still have those relationship with their frat and sorority members. Whether it's sports teams, band , theater, clubs, or frats and sororities - these social groups and interactions are a part of the college experience and and a valuable one at that.
The issue is the underage and excess alcohol related hazing and drinking events - that needs to end and frat members are crazy is they take part in hazing and serving underage kids - its all risk and zero reward. Hopefully the lawsuits currently underway against some frat members will serve as a warning to current frats and sororities.
Underage drinking will still go on, just in off campus locations , and there will still be tragic events happening, but there will be no press becasue its not linked to frats and sororities.
8
Focusing only on the Greek system's drinking and hazing issues is infuriating. Other organizations, like university marching band or non-Greek fraternities, have hazing rituals and drinking habits that often way worse than Greek organizations. Universities monitor and crackdown on Greek organizations but let lots of other organizations fly under the radar.
Kids are going to drink in college no matter how draconian the rules against the Greek system get. The best thing to do is educate incoming freshman on how to party safely, know their limits, and what to do if a friend has alcohol poisoning. That will do more to prevent injury than attempting to ban alcohol and partying, which is only an uphill battle.
14
This is so seriously about time. What were they waiting for? More lawsuits? What they did to Timothy Piazza alone was unconscionable. I don't know him or his parents but I cry for their loss and others like this.
35
Drinking will occur at college regardless of the presence of greek organizations on campus. While being 'safe' is really the personal responsibility of each student, campuses and greek organizations should set guidelines for behavior. My son is involved with a fraternity at his school and it has been a great experience for him in terms of friendships and responsibilities. He feels that the social events are more controlled than those at private houses in town as the frat events have guest lists and door monitors.
5
Good news for Windsor Ontario (where U-Mich and EMU students go) and for all the other refuges where students go to drink alcohol without Big Brother oversight. Mandating dull, chaparoned parties is a certain route to failure. Is there any real evidence that alcohol-related deaths have increased over the past 100 years? Universities and fraternities need to address coercion in drinking, not drinking, in order to improve things, because one death is too many. There is a huge difference between insisting that a pledge jug-a-lug versus just letting that pledge take his or her own sweet time to adjust to campus life. Such a policy of true health education would save a lot of lives of students driving away from the Puritans on wavy roads instead of partying at home.
8
How unfortunate. I was part of the Greek system at the large state university I attended in the early 1990's and it was a wonderful experience. Of course, there were some bad apples in the Greek system, as there are in any large group of people. But membership made a huge campus much smaller and friendlier and made it easier to navigate the transition from teen to adult. I have made life long friends and have a world wide network of "sisters". It's too bad that the Greek system has devolved into a free-for-all. Perhaps "helicopter" parenting has created a generation of young people that do not know how to appropriately test limits.
9
Agree. The increased drinking age moved alcohol under ground, thus more frequently abused. In the 70’s frats and sororities were losing membership. Increasing the drinking age helped make them popular again. My college did not have them and the social life was fine. I wish they’d disappear, they are snobby and discriminate. Unfortunately, the alcohol driving issue will keep this from changing. Maybe they should increase the age to get a drivers license, then lo wer the drinking age. Will never happen.
3
Common Sense and Decency 101 with a lab for practical experience should be required at every university. There was hazing in our fraternity house. This was the pre-Animal House 1960's. There was certainly drinking along with a discernible level of empathy and respect. Pledges weren't drafted for abuse. Mess with, certainly, but there was a line. A number of our pledges were veterans in school on the GI Bill. Wouldn't have mattered as there were self imposed limits on what was not allowed. Then, after fun and games, nobody was dead, disfigured, on life support or even angry. It was part of college and it was what it was and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Now? The world is much different and a lot meaner...maybe it's time for a change.
1
we forget that these are young adults who are 18 years of age or older. they have a right to vote. they can join the military and put their lives on the line and kill for our country. yet, they cannot drink. europeans can drink legally at 18. yet, college binge drinking is not as big of a problem in europe. what is the mission of a college or university? are they de facto surrogate parents of young adults? should they have curfew or even dress codes? it is a slippery slope. i can't help but feel that this is the infantilizaiton of the american college student who in my generation were viewed as young adults.
41
In Europe most 18 year olds don’t have access to cars. They use bikes or public transportation. Teenage and even those in their twenties often use bad judgment. If they aren’t drinking and driving their lapses in judgment won’t harm them or other people. I remember, as a college student, being a passenger in a car driven by my date. He was so inebriated he had to drive on the center line to see where he was going. I was under 21 and used very bad judgment. I was just lucky. Some of my friends weren’t so lucky.
3
Goldenbears, there is no logical connection between the abilities to vote, join the military, and drink. That is: the ability to do one does not imply the ability to do the other.
The second part of your comment is a better question: what is the role of the university in this and other issues affecting young adults.
I think binge drinking has increased since the 70s and 80s when I was in college both in fraternities and at other non-Greek parties. The question is why and what to do about it.
2
OK, but why does this have to happen on Campus?
The idea of "Greek" has evolved into something different.
Is this "adult" behavior?
Perhaps they are under-worked, over indulged and rude, as I once commented to a then friend of mine about her thirteen-year-old, and nine-year-old kids.
2
This should have occurred when the first person died as a result of hazing and over-intoxication as part of a drinking ritual.
People who argue that all of this alcohol abuse is part of the college "experience" need to re-think their argument. People manage to complete their undergraduate and even their graduate/doctoral degrees without having to get falling-down drunk every weekend.
12
Thank God college is behind me rather than ahead. In the next few years it will be nothing but people sitting alone, in their rooms, on their phones, texting each other, afraid to have too much fun lest something bad happen.
23
My girlfriend is in college online. She goes to work, then comes home and does homework all night. She doesnt pay any attention to me whatsoever.. I am dead serious, I made myself a pizza last night, and she didnt even look at me. Im out of the relationship today. School is trying to steal the soul of young women.
4
I too worry about social isolation and the effects of smart phones and technology... I don't agree that the "fun" alternative needs to be the current binge-drinking culture that is pervasive on college campuses (fraternities or no). Can our young people have fun without getting wasted nearly to death?!!
6
Maybe you should consider an online class yourself? Going to school and working is a hard combination, but can result in better opportunities for your girlfriend.
This may not be the relationship for you as she does not have a lot of extra time and you are not supportive of that.
No parties, no pledging...no purpose?
7
Ah, so drunkenness and hazing constitute life’s purpose and are the essential elements of friendship and fellowship! So glad to know that.
5
No purpose! How about your studies? How about learning something?
10
I think he means what is the purpose of having frat houses.
The problem is the 21 year old drinking law. Prior to that, drinking was not unusual, it happened in a lot more places, some of them sponsored by the schools themselves, but there was a lot less binge drinking just to get drunk. After the law, drinking got focussed on fraternities, most of which didn't want to take on the role of bartender to the campus. This inevitably led to the present situation. So, repeal the 21 YO drinking law, as the presidents of a large number of universities have suggested, and let things return to normal. Treat college students as adults. Campuses, and in particular fraternities, will become much safer places.
42
I'm sorry, but college students are not adults. Not most of them, and not in the first two years, by a long shot. Take it from a grad student, after 4 years of teaching assistant experience, and about 10 years total of interactions with undergrads, both while being one and afterwards.
I'll quote K from "Men In Black": " A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it"
They are not adults yet. And even less so when they are part of a group.
11
You know, I never looked at it that way before. Now that I hear your point of view and consider it, I agree.
Thank you for educating me.
3
Baloney. I went to a big sorority fraternity school, and at a time with drinking age was 18. Almost all drinking happened at frats. Change in law has nothing to do with where drinking happened on college campuses.
The reason the law was changed back to 21 year old limit is that traffic accidents sky rocketed with the 18 year limit. Same stupid arguments made back in my day, before they changed to 18 year limit. They can vote, they can serve in the military, why not drink.
Why not? Because it is very harmful to society.
In Europe. public transit far better developed so 18 year olds drinking are much less likely to be driving than in US.
Another poor article trying to demonize fraternities as the root cause for evil.
Why not mention the gazillion hours of community service they do?
Or the millions they raise for charities?
Or the fact that members of fraternities tend to have higher GPAs, a higher sense of inclusivity, or the fact that a significant amount of fraternity members hold leadership positions on campus?
Sometimes it feels like the NYT is becoming the liberal Breitbart.
17
They do not belong on college campuses and can continue to exist and thrive as totally private organizations off campus.
1
Double Secret Probation?
11
It's been a long time since society, in general, has viewed an intoxicated person as funny. Same should hold true on college campuses. Drunks aren't funny no matter where they. Young drunks are just pathetic.
52
Young drunks seem funny to other young drunks, for better or worse.
As long as college is a four year extension of high school, the problems will persist. Solution: test everybody at the end of freshman year and kick out everybody who grades below a B.
What's that, you say? College should be for everybody! Well, if it is, it's for the party animals as well as the grinds. This isn't the era of rich kids getting some polish before going into the family business. This is the era of scamming kids who shouldn't even think of going to college into mortgaging their future for the sake of a worthless piece of paper. Enough. Get rid of the dead wood and the frat problem will solve itself.
27
Kids going hog-wild at their first taste of freedom from parents is nothing new. However, in the US, we won't let our kids take a sip of wine at Christmas dinner but then send them off to colleges where social life revolves around drinking as if this complete 180 won't have any consequences. College kids will drink whether they're at a bar, in a dorm, at a house party or on Greek Row. It's up to parents to teach their kids how to drink responsibly under controlled conditions before they end up in situations with no controls.
126
Fortunately the state does not come into private homes to prevent children under 21 from having a glass of wine with dinner. We have the ability to show our kids how to drink responsibly, even though they can't go out and consume alcohol legally until they're 21.
2
I think you're on to something. Seems like high school kids these days drink far less than they did when we were young so when they get to college they're out of control. Plus, I think hard liquor is much more popular these days, presumably because of the lift of the advertising ban. We are all about beer and wine coolers. Rarely was liquor involved.
Never can I understand this issue. The students are at least 80% under legl drinking age! Why do not university security people go into the frat houses and remove the alcohol?!?
11
Fraternity houses are often privately owned or rented and not part of the university campus or within the authority of campus security.
1
I always say "There is no underage drinking on college campuses. There is a lot of illegal drinking, but that's because stupid and unconstitutional laws get passed by people-pleasing lawmakers who only care about getting re-elected".
I just finished reading "True Gentlemen" by John Hechinger. He describes deaths due to binge drinking, especially during the pledge process--not a pleasant way to go. Hechinger focuses on Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapters at several universities. Neither choking on one's own vomit nor death by alcohol poisoning seems like a good way to go.
Recommend for the parents--and sons and daughters--of college-bound graduates.
10
Sons of rich people join fraternities. Smart sons don't join fraternities. This isn't complicated.
18
Maybe in South Carolina. In other places, everyone is welcome to join.
It's about time there's a crackdown on the problems in the frats nationwide...
and this is coming from a mother of 2 fraternity members who didn't explain the culture until after they left college.
8
These kids (certainly not young adults) are not improving their Resumes by participating in Fraternities and Sororities. In the Future, Universities that have such "club activities" will not get the best and brightest Students. Their Academic Rankings will be much lower, as the Top Intelligent Students go to All Academic places instead. These All Academic places will have the Highest Ranked Professors too, so these Fraternity Sorority Universities will have their ranks lowered. I suggest the Ivy League gets rid of such "Eating Clubs" (or whatever they're called) now. Financial Aid at these partying schools? I don't think so.
15
Frats are those who believe in the easy way of getting to the top in the old boy's club and not doing any hard work. I can't remember a single frat kid in my class who was in the top say even 25%. I can't imagine why parents would want to have their kids in frats. I totally discouraged my kids from joining frats just like I did when I went to school. It is time for colleges to get rid of these old dinosaurs.
88
My son is in a frat and the experience has been great. Social events, sports leagues, older mentors , lifelong friendships. How is a frat social experience different than joining a sports team, the band, the theater group, ski club, ,math club, etc?
7
I was in a fraternity had a 3.7 GPA at a top 30 university, interned at the NYSE, and now work for a major bank.
Many of my brothers work for fortune 500 companies, attended top tier grad schools. I'm sorry you had a negative experience with fraternities, but to say that they do not produce successful alumni is blatantly false.
21
Mostly because students routinely die and frequently women are assaulted at frats- unlike the other activities you list.
7
Ban Fraternities and Sororities and they will become elitist secret societies again. But that won't happen because guess who the Universities biggest donors are? YEP! Greek Alumni
15
When my father became a fraternity adviser in the late 1950's, all frats had a live in House Mother. My parents chaperoned many a party together (pledges got to babysit my brothers and I). Drinking absolutely took place, but the emphasis was not on getting drunk, but on having fun. Fraternities and sororities have done lots of community service, raised tons of money for worthy causes, but the current atmosphere is all about drinking in quantity. As noted in the article, the drinking will just spread to other venues. A culture change is needed. How, I do not know..
71
At the liberal arts college I attended in the late 1970s, when the drinking age was 18, a freshman woman was gang raped at a fraternity. Having legal alcohol available resulted in openly advertised fraternity parties where many students -- especially during pledge week -- ended up with alcohol poisoning. The countless bars in town offered discounts to student that further encouraged alcohol abuse.
During college in the 70's, my happiest time was as a member of a well-known nationally affiliated sorority. I lived in a lovely, warm house with a long-time live-in house mother. At that time, most of the frats still had either a house parent or a couple that lived in the house.
Yes, there were parties and drinking, but also community service. It was not perfect, but it was better. More civilized.
One thing: the drinking age had been lowered to 18 then; I have come to think that it may have been a better way--maybe we need to consider lowering the drinking age again along with some serious drinking-education.
That plus returning to on-site supervision at the houses may in fact be the key to providing the desired "family" experience that Greek life provides, while promoting health, safety and balance.
Thank goodness the focus was on having fun, and not getting an education.
Why doesn't the media cover binge drinking and related issues among students at Universities who are not involved in Greek life. The rates are the same or worse. This is not an issue specific to Greek life.
Students in Greek life have higher GPAs, higher graduation rates, are more engaged on campus in charitable and leadership activities. Said another way, a lot of good comes out of Greek life.
32
The difference lies in hazing. Pledges are made to drink a lot more and much faster than other students, even those going on a drinking binge.
The question is: why do fraternities need hazing? And why do fraternity members don't notice is a pledge is injured and close to death and call for help when there is still time?
As for fraternity members doing better academically, I suspect there is a wide difference between fraternities. However, it's pretty clear that members not calling for help when someone is injured is a sign of lack of intelligence and common sense, let alone responsibility.
3
Where's the evidence to support your second paragraph?
3
it actually IS worse in frats. thats why the media focuses on them. please show me how people people in college have died from "hazing" style events NOT in "greek life" as you call it. ill wait.
5
Death and sexual assault are “excesses,” NYT?
44
This is long overdue. Just last week, a young man from my community on Long Island, died at a SUNY school from alcohol poisoning at an off campus fraternity.
My nephew was at an off campus underground fraternity party a few years ago, where a young man died from alcohol poisoning. It happens with more frequency than you would think.
Even worse than all the drinking is the reluctance of the young men there to get help, for fear of getting into trouble, getting suspended, having their parents know what they are doing. People seem to have lost all sense of responsibility for other people. I think it is our single greatest moral flaw as a nation- a pervasive sense that we are NOT our brother's keeper. It keeps us from having universal health care, living wages, safe communities.
I hope this helps, but it is not enough.
195
Debbie you sum it up so well. It is part of a culture where empathy seems to be snuffed out and consequently even practical action like making a phone call for help.
I was wondering why those fraternity members don't summon help when someone is visibly hurt? I wonder if having one course in First Aid in High School might prepare them to at least call for help when it's needed? Oh I'm dreaming.....
1
"An autopsy revealed a small amount of alcohol was found in his system, according to the Otsego County coroner. The amount of drugs detected won’t be available until a full toxicology report is completed."
http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2017/12/05/police...
1
These deaths are due in part to the belief that college students have " a right" to get totally wasted and behave in stupid ways as a way of proving to themselves and
to their "friends" that they are adults.
Not to diminish the connection between drinking and abusive hazing behavior, but what this article does not mention is the connection between excessive drinking and sexual assault.
The problem, IMHO, is that there are no significant consequences for the men who
participate in deadly hazing, or who engage in sexual assault. If they want to act like adults, they should understand that they will be punished like adults.
nobody cares. get rid of them already. the problem for colleges is that they are perceived as sanctioned by the school. so if someone dies the school get sued. so it's different than what darylreece says. yeah, kids are going to party, but not at the expense of the university.
16
Give the Michigan kids a break - they haven't had anything to celebrate under Coach Harbaugh.
10
The media seems obsessed with fraternities and sororities by putting on their bias blinders. All you have to do is walk through a college town on Friday and Saturday night and you will find most of the kids are out getting obliterated. It is easy to blame the Greek system, but hard to get at the root cause, obsession with "partying" that leads to many bad outcomes.
20
@darylreece
No, "most of the kids" are not out getting "obliterated." It's the "Greeks" who are sponsoring the parties that are the "root cause" on campuses because the "Greeks" make it easy to drink; you don't even have to spend your own money. If young adults went to bars where they spent their own money, the bar would be legally responsible (jail, fines, lawsuits) for serving liquor to someone who is intoxicated. That's why you don't hear about bars being the "root cause."
101
"Most"? Whose obsession are we talking about again?
5
Sorry - you haven't been to many college campuses and towns lately when the bars close at 2am. The kids who are 21+ generally avoid the frats and are at the bars and are getting hammered. And many of the frats are now carding att he door or trying to restrict underage drinking, so the underage kids are going to parties off campus.
3