<p>Caroljean,</p>
<p>I take some responsibility for your perception. Forgive me. </p>
<p>My breakdown would be as follows: a total of ~15% of Hillsdale students drink three or more nights a week. Of course, quantities vary. There are some regular drunks, but by and large even the partiers are spending one night or two of those nights they go out just going to a party and having a few or having a few beers with friends (or even a professor). I would say another ~20% of students go out a maximum of three nights a week, and even then they’ll attend parties but seldom drink to anything approaching excess (if at all). Another ~20% don’t really party, but can be convinced to come to functions where alcohol is present (e.g. a sorority / fraternity formals, fraternity theme parties (ATO’s Beach Party), President’s Ball). That leaves another ~45% whose presence on the “party” scene is practically nonexistent. </p>
<p>I spent most of my time at Hillsdale as Greek, so just what that ~45% was doing was a total mystery to me for most of my time there. Only around senior year when I branched out did I discover a lot of off campus houses with people who had a very wide range of interests and activities. Groups, clubs, etc. Mostly great people who I wish I’d gotten to know. My class graduated around 300 kids; I still run into names from my class I’ve never heard before. In other words, the “party” scene can be quite insular, and is certainly avoidable.</p>
<p>You hit the nail on the head when you talk about classes. I was perfectly happy up until graduation holding onto my 3.1. If you want to graduate cum laude or better, it takes a whole lot more effort and diligence, that is more studying and more focus and less extracurricular devotion. Unfortunately, being in a fraternity where 3.1 was considered resident genius, that I was barely “good enough” did not even cross my mind until around graduation.</p>
<p>Anyways, I hear the Sigma Chis have instituted a >2.6 GPA requirement for active members, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Delt Taus already had one in place when they refounded. As admissions requirements continue to rise, the party scene will probably shrink even more. (Hillsdale was always a good school, but from post WWII until around the early 1990s it was rightly regarded as a party school for rich kids.)</p>
<p>I should close with a note that the party scene at Hillsdale has a lot of virtue about it, if that’s the right word. There will always be a few bad apples at Hillsdale (of both sexes), but by and large even the big parties are free of drunk driving, fights, and/or shady maneuvers on impressionable coeds. Drugs are kept behind closed doors and among the few users (and, even then, it’s usually marijuana). There’s no such thing as a “safe” party of 18-22 year olds drinking together, but by and large the parties at Hillsdale are as close as it gets.</p>
<p>So… is drinking a big part of the social culture at Hillsdale? Yes. And no. :-P</p>