As a senior, I have heard for almost four years how Bradley is attempting to decrease the use of alcohol by students. New policies and incentives have been enforced every year: Late Night BU, Task Force, mandatory need to register parties, and now this moratorium.
But a vital point regarding this moratorium: it’s only related to greek life. It seems that the near 10,000 philanthropy hours, thousands of dollars donated to charity and some of the highest GPAs on campus are often forgotten. Yes, we are a group of social sororities and fraternities and yes, several social functions will have alcohol present. But we must also remember the freedom of college and the impulsiveness of young adulthood does not only affect those with letters on their chest.
I would argue that it actually affects greeks less, as we have much more to lose if something goes awry on a “night out.” Interfraternity chapters have constantly been targeted by the university for students supposedly indulging in too much alcohol at their houses. As a 22-year-old senior, I must say I have been to my share of fraternity parties and can honestly say that no fraternity man has forced, nor given me, an excessive amount of alcohol.
We have some of the finest gentlemen representing chapters on campus who realize how much is at stake if a student overindulges in their chapter house. What I feel is not being regulated is what these students are drinking before they go out during the “pregame.” Students living in the dorms may rip ten shots before they go out and feel fine; however the alcohol finally hits them as they reach Fredonia Ave. Suddenly, that student’s poor decision now unfairly affects 50 or more fraternity men. Students here are all legally adults, meaning their decisions are their own and should be looked at that way.
College is the place where we are meant to learn how to live on our own to prepare for the so-called “real world.” The university making decisions for us as adults based on poorly based facts is demeaning and unnecessary. Not only that, but the manner in which we were informed of this decision validated that point and displayed an unprofessionalism I would not expect from higher education administrators.
Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC), Pan-Hellenic Council (PHC) and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) members were informed of the moratorium at a joint council meeting on Sunday night. However, as I am no longer a chapter president, I, along with more than a thousand other greek life members, were informed via social media. The moratorium letter was tweeted late Sunday night once Facebook and Twitter users began taking off. It has now been five days since the moratorium was announced and had it not been for my own chapter discussing the matter, I still would not have heard anything.
There has been no release of what the punishment is for breaking this moratorium. There has been no information from administration given on how long this is expected to last. Until a meeting Monday night, there was no information given regarding this risk policy. Even then, the task was put upon the gentleman of IFC rather than the Bradley officials who called for this. We receive campus wide emails to submit poetry pieces, yet cannot receive any official documentation from the university regarding a large matter such as the moratorium.
Finally, I feel it is only appropriate to address the new risk policy being discussed with the IFC executive board. I do agree that the “BYOB” policy is a valuable one and would protect the chapters. Members of IFC chapters have had a ridiculous amount of risk management issues indirectly thrust upon them by others’ poor decisions. I am not taking a stance against a new policy for hosting parties. What I am taking a stance against is the way Bradley has treated members of the greek community, the method in which it was done and the disrespect that has been thrust upon us because of it.
Bradley has one third of students active in greek life, along with the countless alumni still active with their chapters and the university. This has been a highly debated issue that I am sure has reached several of those supporting alumni. As a future alum, I must say that this is an incident I will not forget. Here is to hoping the retrospective is not near as sour as the present.