That was kind of my point (although I obviously didn’t make it clear). The “10 parties is too few” premise seems to presuppose the only parties kids ever attend are in their own houses. I assume there are plenty of other parties to attend and I can’t get worked up about kids who can’t schedule a formal and a kegger at their own house in the same week.
Maybe we just had noisier, longer lasting parties but can’t imagine trying to get anything done or to sleep on a weekday with the kind of parties we threw raging outside my room. It would get old pretty fast.
@Much2learn “Can the ten parties be longer than 1 day? Or is each day another party?”
At schools where reform has taken place, as PSU is attempting to do, parties are registered with a start and an end time and have limits. For example, a pair between a fraternity and sorority would be scheduled from 9 -12 on a Friday night. Then at midnight, that formal “pair” is considered over. The members of the sorority can stay. But, other friends (i.e. girlfriends of brothers who are not part of the sorority) are welcome to come at midnight. The sorority members that want to go to another house leave at midnight and the rest of the night people end up bouncing around.
As far back as the 80s when I served as a collegiate chapter adviser, the parties were registered with a 4 hour limit. There was a BYOB system. Each member who was over 21, could only bring the number of drinks=to hours of the party+1. So, a 4 hour party, they could bring 5 beers.
The rules need to be written without ambiguity as based on your question, it is clear that the kids will be trying to get creative with interpretations.
The more I read, the more disgusted I get. S17 was told to apply to Penn State by his friend’s mom because of the theater program. The friend’s sister, who was known as a party girl in HS, goes there and is, of course, in a sorority. My immediate response was to ask the mom if she was offering to pay the OOS tuition. I did look into the program and the school and discussed it with my son, who decided that he had no interest in the sports and party culture of Penn State. The other day, he told me that one of his friends, a quiet, shy kid, is going to Penn State in the fall. His dad told me that he hopes that his son will come out of his shell, join a fraternity and have fun. I was flabbergasted! All i could do was stare.
I never understood the idea of joining a frat. The people who join frats or sorority are people that want attention. Not to say, I adore them when they do events and run fundraising. You don’t need to join a frat to have fun in college.
@NASA2014 Saying that “The people who join frats or sorority are people that want attention.” is like saying that kids who play sports. participate in theater, etc are doing so for attention. I can assure you that when I pledged, that was the furthest thing from my mind.
I grew up in a very small town. I went to a big university where I knew absolutely no one. I wanted to develop lasting friendships and a support system with a group of like minded women; to create a family for myself in a new and strange environment. I found that and so much more. The leadership skills and self confidence that developed as part of my membership has benefited me in my professional career immensely. The commitment to volunteering that I developed has helped every community where I have lived. From pre-school fundraising, Girl Scout troops who needed leaders, hospital galas, the PTA and HS sports’ Booster Clubs where I have served as President etc. have all benefited from my Greek membership.
Believe me, it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting attention.
Remember, the cap on parties hosted each semester only applies to parties with alcohol (which 2/3 or more of their membership is legally barred from drinking anyway).
Groups can have parties every night of the semester where they hire a band, put on themed costumes, dance, socialize, whatever.
The fact that such parties don’t happen, even though they would be freebies, really says it all. All those other social features are just window dressing for getting wasted. Hold a luau with a great band, amazing food, awesome costumes, dance floor, etc…and nobody will come because there is no bar.
Also, PSU has 46 recognized IFC chapters at present. If social groups on campus host 460 wet parties per semester, there ought to be enough to keep anyone busy. All the college kids I know have friends in other houses. If yours is quiet one night, you can always find another (lest, God forbid, you try to socialize without alcohol).
@katliamom “I kind of like the idea of the Greek tax…”
Unfortunately, just like the tax code, this will not be easy to implement fairly. To levy a Greek tax on IFC and Panhel members forces them to carry a burden for others. As we have seen in this case, Trilogy, for example which is not a sorority, was at the Beta house partying the night of the tragedy. This is a common practice. Groups like Trilogy and others have robust schedules of parties at fraternities. Thousands of independent students attend fraternity parties throughout the year. Why should it be the responsibility of sorority women to fund party monitors for other students? This makes absolutely no sense at all. If such a “tax” were levied, it would seem that attendance at all fraternity parties should be limited to IFC and Panhel members exclusively–which opens up another Pandora’s box of regulation.
Is there really any way to fully change this as long as kids are willing to participate? The change has to come from students and parents being unwilling to continue to support hazing and over the top binge drinking. Look at the development of Trilogy - sorority was banned and moved off campus and out of the control of greek life at Penn State. And look what happened when this frat went “dry” it was considered unpopular and bad. Certainly, harsh sanctions can make some difference but things really won’t change until the members (and alumni) decide that forcing young men to drink vast quantities of alcohol as part of hazing should not happen, nothing will really change.
Not sure I can agree with this students perspective entirely but the article does discuss the “Groupthink” that has been discussed about PSU in this thread as well as nationally…and it is just one students perspective…and this fraternity tragedy was “Groupthink” in every detail.
“Penn State is the epitome of Groupthink, a psychological phenomenon in which a whole group does a certain thing, whether or not that thing is logical or right. If you live in East Halls, you are expected to behave a certain way, and you’ll have trouble making friends if you don’t. The same exact thing goes for the honors dorms. And for every single square inch of this campus. People here don’t wear their own clothes, they wear Penn State clothes. They have the same conversations over and over again. We are all being trained to be Stepford wives, husbands, engineers, chemists, even writers. Penn State hands us a basic program and asks us to operate accordingly. There is no room for anything else.” https://thetab.com/us/pennstate/2016/02/16/my-penn-state-3255
LOL, I think that could be said about alot of colleges - the clothing, the dorm communities…it can be said about many aspects of life. People live where the community fits their comfort - planned community, cul-de-sac, rural, loft-living, urban. People “pick” their groups - if they golf, if they sail, if they are RVers, campers, sports nuts…they dress for work in a way that conforms to that office expectations and they pick up lingo particular to that office. Groupthink is all around us all the time and not particularly unique to an academic community. Unless you drop out of society and live off the grid, everyday your behaviors are informed by the communities you inhabit. The student that wrote that article will find that out sooner or later.
I hardly think Penn State is unique in this aspect…if everything it is fairly common. I happen to live in Go Green and Go Blue land. Even the smallest of LACs “cluster”…whether in Living Learning Communities, or what group or area they gravitate to in the dining hall, or where they study in the library or what they do in their free time - most have “traditions” that the kids follow. Not all small colleges are “into” the college gear/clothing, but there are absolutely clothing “styles” that are omnipresent around campuses - from campuses where flannel shirts over jeans are popular to colleges that are heavily hipster to colleges where just about every single female wears black yoga pants and boots 3 seasons of the year.
I’d love to know what they meant by this. The only thing you’re expected to do in the honors dorms is be quiet, and some students can’t even handle that.
My stepson ended up getting a job offer (which he took) because one of the students charged lost his position after this incident. He didn’t know that at the time he was offered the position but he does know it now. This kind of thing ruins lives – many lives. We pointed out to all of our kids that these kids ruined others lives and their own with their horrific actions and that it isn’t just people out of our circles.