When in high school, what a student does most is wait. Any
typical teenager’s goal is what every adult expects it to be, to get to
college. What else does a teenager who is tired of living the same life
everyday within high school want more than to be free and get the experience of
a lifetime? To go to a huge university and live the way life is meant to be
spent, fearless. Yet applying to and looking for schools that are a perfect
match comes with many background checks on the student life as well. Everything
from the activities and organizations on campus to I’m Shmacked videos of
partying is checked out online when making the decision that is capable of making
their lives worth so much more. Rutgers, being highly acclaimed for their great
academic system and their greatly enthusiastic student life style, has been
mentioned on the news several times of incidents that have occurred on campus,
especially within the Greek Life organizations. Although so many other schools
have gone through far worse incidents, not all leave a trail behind that makes
the school suffer. So in reality, is the true problem the Greek life organizations
or the students themselves whom go too far?
The larger the population of a University or college is, the
more attention the school receives, whether it be good or bad. Throughout the
years, more and more incidents have occurred on college campuses that make not
only parents concerned about their children’s wellbeing, but makes the student think further into why they
should even consider the institution any longer. “Rutgers University has banned
fraternity and sorority house parties at its main campus for the rest of the
spring semester after several alcohol-related problems this school year,
including the death of a student (Kingkade).” When the incident gets to the
point where a student’s life is taken, such as what occurred at Rutgers New
Brunswick, many questions are left unanswered because not everyone knows the
circumstances of how it all happened. Due to the actions committed by one
student and her decision to become highly intoxicated, the school board decided
it would be best to make it a rule within all of Greek life organizations.
Although starting off with simply some organizations on campus to be watched
and not allowed drinking, a numerous amount of Greek life organizations were
added to the list as more and more incidents surfaced. “Rutgers bestowed this
heavy-handed punishment upon its 86 fraternities and sororities this week,
citing the aforementioned alcohol-fueled incidents (Rutgers Bans Frat Parties for
3 Weeks to Teach Everyone a Lesson about Binge Drinking).”
“The
problem with college drinking is not necessarily the drinking itself, but the
negative consequences that result from excessive drinking (College Drinking).” With
the Greek life being the main source of the drinking and parties within
colleges, this being banned gives the board of education, along with several
parents, the comfort in knowing that their children are now safer than before. But
before the death at Rutgers, other schools have had fatalities within their Greek
life organizations as well making it questionable whether or not the
festivities being held on these campuses are the main source of the fatalities.
“The University of Oklahoma banned drinking from the campus, starting last
month, after the death last fall of Blake Hammontree, 19, who died at a Sigma
Chi party, his blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit (Fraternity
Fatalities).” If there were no fraternities on campus to support and be the
source of the drinking, it would not be such an issue. Greek life, being the
life of the party and encouraging the drinking, is what makes it such a much
bigger problem. Having a student die in a dorm from over drinking would not
cause the same commotion as a student who dies directly after leaving a
fraternity house, where the source of the drinking is obvious.
Many would
think the solution to the underage drinking and Greek life fatalities would be
to shut down the source from where the problem is arising from. Yet the tragedies
are capable of happening wherever it is going to happen, whether it be in a
frat house, in a dorm room, or even at an everyday student’s household. Instead
of having the Greek life organizations shut down, such as occurred to Sigma Phi
Epsilon in Rutgers New Brunswick, the organizations should simply be more
organized with the quantity and age of the people whom attend these parties and
make it their priority to not be of any danger to those whom participate in the
activities.
Works Cited
"College Drinking." College Drinking. NIAAA, n.d.
Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Fishbein, Rebecca. "Rutgers Bans Frat Parties for 3
Weeks To Teach Everyone A Lesson
About Binge Drinking."
Gothamist. Gothamist, 7 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
"Fraternity Fatalities." Fraternity Fatalities.
College Parents of America, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Kingkade, Tyler. "Rutgers Bans Fraternity Parties Following
Alcohol-Related Problems.
"The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment