Freshman jailbreak coming soon
By: Jeff Cunning
Issue date: 9/16/08 Section: Opinion
Two years of freshman student "house arrest" in the dorms will finally come to an end next month. After two years of the campus becoming less connected, greek members ending up in the wrong houses and alcohol problems being unaffected, freshman students will be allowed to have a social life both on campus and outside of the dorms, beginning after Fall Break.
The rule barring freshmen from being on greek property first semester was put in place two years ago to protect fraternities from getting into increasing amounts of trouble and to curb the alcohol consumption of freshman students. Coming soon will be the greek system's first chance to prove its ability to handle the onslaught of students under 21 from coming over to socialize on the weekends.
Will this present a problem that is too great for the fraternities to handle? We shall see. Risk management will be crucial to making this new change successful and substantial. However, this is something that happens every year: the fateful day (and night) when freshmen are let loose and greek houses must be prepared to take on whatever situation that may arise. The only difference is that for the last two years, this switch has been delayed until second semester. My hope is that the careful planning of Interfraternity Council in crafting this new set of regulations will make for a healthy transition.
Either way, we have come to realize in the last two years that quarantining freshmen to the dorms has not curbed alcohol consumption. I have seen the campus become less connected because freshmen and upperclassmen have not had as many opportunities to interact. This has caused an overall loss to the great DePauw network I loved during my freshman year of 2005-2006. It has given freshmen less capacity to know which greek chapter might suit them best, and it has given greek chapters less knowledge as to which freshmen they would like to recruit.
I am optimistic now, in my senior year, that the problems with the system that has been in place for the previous two years can be resolved. Furthermore, I think the new system is infinitely better than what it was my freshman year when there were little to no restrictions and my class was allowed on greek property before fall break. Each fraternity must host a non-alcoholic social event on campus so that members can meet freshmen in a neutral and open setting. The doors to greek houses will open gradually, but not so slowly as to lose a chance to learn about different houses before rush or to forego a social life outside of the dorms first semester.
The new setting should put the fraternities in a more equal light so that freshman students can make thoughtful and intelligent choices as to if and where they might join. It will also allow for freshmen to meet people across different chapters, rather than only meeting people in the chapter they somewhat blindly choose to join through rush.
As this rule is supposed to stand for the next three years, I foresee DePauw regaining the closeness it had my first year at the University. I believe this year will be a successful one for DePauw and the greek system. I am prepared to take on the challenge, excited to see the way things play out, and eager to meet the freshman class - a privilege that has been more difficult to come by these last two years.
-opinion@thedepauw.com
The rule barring freshmen from being on greek property first semester was put in place two years ago to protect fraternities from getting into increasing amounts of trouble and to curb the alcohol consumption of freshman students. Coming soon will be the greek system's first chance to prove its ability to handle the onslaught of students under 21 from coming over to socialize on the weekends.
Will this present a problem that is too great for the fraternities to handle? We shall see. Risk management will be crucial to making this new change successful and substantial. However, this is something that happens every year: the fateful day (and night) when freshmen are let loose and greek houses must be prepared to take on whatever situation that may arise. The only difference is that for the last two years, this switch has been delayed until second semester. My hope is that the careful planning of Interfraternity Council in crafting this new set of regulations will make for a healthy transition.
Either way, we have come to realize in the last two years that quarantining freshmen to the dorms has not curbed alcohol consumption. I have seen the campus become less connected because freshmen and upperclassmen have not had as many opportunities to interact. This has caused an overall loss to the great DePauw network I loved during my freshman year of 2005-2006. It has given freshmen less capacity to know which greek chapter might suit them best, and it has given greek chapters less knowledge as to which freshmen they would like to recruit.
I am optimistic now, in my senior year, that the problems with the system that has been in place for the previous two years can be resolved. Furthermore, I think the new system is infinitely better than what it was my freshman year when there were little to no restrictions and my class was allowed on greek property before fall break. Each fraternity must host a non-alcoholic social event on campus so that members can meet freshmen in a neutral and open setting. The doors to greek houses will open gradually, but not so slowly as to lose a chance to learn about different houses before rush or to forego a social life outside of the dorms first semester.
The new setting should put the fraternities in a more equal light so that freshman students can make thoughtful and intelligent choices as to if and where they might join. It will also allow for freshmen to meet people across different chapters, rather than only meeting people in the chapter they somewhat blindly choose to join through rush.
As this rule is supposed to stand for the next three years, I foresee DePauw regaining the closeness it had my first year at the University. I believe this year will be a successful one for DePauw and the greek system. I am prepared to take on the challenge, excited to see the way things play out, and eager to meet the freshman class - a privilege that has been more difficult to come by these last two years.
-opinion@thedepauw.com
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