abesimpson
New member
As a current student and fraternity member, I'm glad I am graduating in May and of age. Underage college kids are going to continue to drink it is just going to be in a less safe atmosphere now. I did not drink before coming to college and when i started drinking as a freshman in a fraternity I had brothers there to show me the ropes and to handle things if someone drank too much. Now you are going to have groups of freshman drinking in their dorms and instead of going out where there is some semblance of order and brothers to watch them, they are going to over consume in their rooms and create more problems for the university.
Btw the new policy they are looking to implement is a BYOB for all fraternity parties. Which means you will be IDed at the door of a frat house and must bring your own 12 pack of beer or 8 malt beverages. you will then have to take your booze behind the bar and be issued a wristband and drink card so you can come back up to get your beers one at a time. Fraternities will no longer be able to supply alcohol at their events. The university is also looking into supplying all 14 fraternities will swipe card systems to make sure no one is using a fake id.
Yes and no. I agree with you that the new rules are just going to push students to apartment or house parties, farther away from the safety of being on campus and will probably lead to an increase in fake IDs and sneaking into bars. There??™s always safety in numbers, but it??™s not like the frats are constantly promoting responsible behavior.
If you??™re a senior now, you??™re too young to remember Bobby Schmalz, but you??™ve probably heard of him. He died my freshman year and that was what led to the end of the calling out party. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...70063_1_binge-drinking-alcohol-robert-schmalz
He was a senior and certainly not new to drinking, but he was also surrounded by his brothers who were supposed to be taking care of him.
FWIW, I wasn??™t part of the Greek system, but I did go through rush to see the houses and Bobby was my groups rho chi. He seemed like a cool guy. One frat (I forget which) cancelled all their parties for the semester in honor of him (I believe he and that frat??™s president had been very good friends), but then threw a party at midnight on the day the party ban ended, so that tarnished the image a bit IMO.