Insight into Alfred University

gadad
Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:26:52 +0000

As stated above, Alfred is a long way from anywhere, and the question about weekends is valid. In years past, there was a lot of alcohol abuse (as might be expected in a situation where there are no competing community attractions), and in 1990, Alfred’s Greek system was the subject of a book called “Broken Pledges” which detailed the death of a pledge from alcohol poisoning. In 2002, after another student death, the university officially ended its fraternity system:
[University Announces Ban on Fraternities and Sororities - New York Times](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06EFDF1038F931A15756C0A9649C8B63)
which often only serves to drive the existing problems and behaviors underground. After official campus recognition of organizations is withdrawn, the same students and traditions remain.

Alfred is the host site for New York’s College of Ceramic Engineering, which means that ceramics majors attend a public school and the other majors attend a private school. It’s an interesting mix.