<p>I HATE entitlement. And I deplore rudeness.</p>
<p>Back when I was in college, I was in the library one night when some kids in a group next to me began having a discussion in which they were referring to black people in a very derogatory manner. I listened for about 60 seconds before I confronted the group and told them in no uncertain terms that they were WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of line and VERY offensive to me. They did stop the conversation. </p>
<p>In this day and age, to be honest with you, I am not sure if I would do the same. Things are just different now, and I might be afraid of a physical threat if I were to do the same thing again. I do not blame your son for his choice, but I do understand his personal feeling of guilt. I would probably have felt the same way.</p>
<p>I disagree with mini about disclosing the name of the school so that anyone can form or alter an opinion about that school on the basis of an event such as the one you described. I fail to see how the actions of the INDIVIDUALS in any way represented ALL fraternities or frat kids specifically or Wake generally. </p>
<p><em>IF</em> this event had been taken to someone in authority and they chose not to act to correct it, then that would be a different story. No group or university can “own” the behavior of three obnoxious and thuggy kids. </p>
<p>Disclosing the name of the school is one thing. Disclosing it for this reason:
is an entirely different matter.</p>
<p>mini, you got it right the first time: The plural of anecdote is not evidence, and this was only ONE anecdote. Why the punitive attitude toward the frats at Wake on this basis?</p>
<p>Not punitive at all. Parents are deserving of ALL information they can get their hands on, good and bad, so they can observe and ask good questions when making decisions. I’m sure there are also frat members that are selling all they have and giving it to the poor.</p>
<p>(MKM56 shared more information with me which he choose not to make public, and I think that is his prerogative.) </p>
<p>The more information, anecdotes, data, evidence that is out there, the better decisions parents and students can make. To quote Faline2:</p>
<p>“Wake has some great teachers and some great kids. Our favorite local boy there was not asked into the frat of his choice and since then joined the Bike Club and had a pretty great life without their frat world.”</p>
<p>So this could be a good decision that potential students can decide to make if they choose Wake. Or not.</p>
<p>Would it have been any less “punitive” if it was a generalized rant against all frats? By localizing it, I would think that’s exactly what this whole thread has avoided.</p>
<p>mini, I just don’t share your quickness to generalize. I don’t mind an anecdote being shared. We share many of them on this forum. You have a habit, though, of assigning blame to an organization or an institution for the actions of a few (think the Duke LAX thread which contained pages and pages and pages of your rants against Duke). I am adamantly opposed to that. I have always taught and will continue to teach my children to accept PERSONAL responsibility for their behavior. If they are acting in an official capacity for an organization, their responsibility for that behavior is increased significantly. From the description of what happened here, these boys were not officially representing their frat <em>OR</em> Wake. Why should either of those two entities have to accept the blame for the actions of THREE students? Sometimes behavior of individuals is just that…behavior of INDIVIDUALS. You seem to be unable to accept that. ~b.</p>
<p>WildChild “disagreed” with some frat guys at Penn shortly after school started. (there may have been some alcohol involved) He wound up with what he feared was a cracked rib, but turned out just to be some bad bruises. (this came to me from another source, not my dear son)</p>
<p>Always nice to have that network of sources–I’ve found them handy. Son’s roommate’s mom and I have been sharing of late too!</p>
<p>I agree with Faline that my son has found Wake to have some wonderful professors. In fact some of his most upbeat phone calls have been after he has been spending time “shooting the breeze” with a prof in their office. He just needs to find his niche socially.</p>