COLUMN: High time to stop blaming Greeks

From Andrew Exum's, "Perilous Orthodoxy," Fall '99 From Andrew Exum's, "Perilous Orthodoxy," Fall '99It's not a joke anymore. It's not some scene out of Animal House." The above quote, from a speech by President Judith Rodin at the University Council meeting two weeks ago, was supposedly aimed at the campus-wide problem of alcohol abuse. But in light of both the tragedy at FIJI and LCE busts of downtown sorority parties the previous weekend, her remarks translated as: "It must be those darn Greeks again." This past weekend, fraternities were targeted more acutely by law officials and state agents than quite possibly any other group of students. Most disturbing, perhaps, were the tales spun by of-age brothers living in privately owned fraternity houses. More than one of these brothers was prevented from entering his home while carrying alcohol. Many argued with police in an effort to convince them their houses were on private property -- not University property -- and that they had the legal right to bring alcohol into their own homes. But their arguments were in vain, as police often disregarded the rights of the students and conducted their business as if they were on University property. And given the popular perception of fraternities, that is to be expected. After all, its high time that the party ended for these spoiled brotherhoods who dedicate their lives to hedonistic pursuits, right? That spurious perception, endorsed and perpetuated by Animal House and its many knock-offs, continues to plague fraternities nationwide. Unfortunately, no matter how long fraternity leaders speak of brotherhood and community service, the image that most likely sticks in people's heads at the end of the day is of John Belushi rolling on the floor drunk in a toga, not fraternity brothers picking up trash in West Philadelphia. To be sure, though, fraternities are social organizations. It seems only natural that a group of men living together and eating together would also congregate socially together. This fact leads to another problem facing fraternities at Penn, one that became painfully obvious this weekend. The lack of a permanent alcohol policy at the University of Pennsylvania has effectively left fraternities in limbo. The current non-policy states that no student organization can serve alcohol at any registered undergraduate event. Since all fraternity parties must be registered with the University, that meant that the large-scale, "open" parties of years past were gone. Students were left to find alcohol elsewhere, and if you are unfortunate enough to currently live in the Quad, carrying beer or liquor into your dorm room was all but out of the question. Fraternity leaders have claimed all along that -- for better or for worse -- fraternity parties were the safest parties on or off campus. The alcohol flow was both regulated and monitored, the burden of safety fell squarely on the fraternity's shoulders and an intricate web of rules and regulations stymied most attempts to get excessively drunk. But the large, beer-only events were gone this weekend and guess what? People still drank, and they drank a lot. So much, in fact, that six students went to the hospital. That said, how many of the alcohol problems facing Penn are Greek and how many apply to the campus body as a whole? A recent Daily Pennsylvanian poll revealed that Greeks "binge" drink only a fraction more than the average student. Also, other organizations outside of the fraternity and sorority system are just as likely to include alcohol in their social gatherings as fraternities. Before the change in the campus alcohol policy, though, they were neither subject to the same rules nor the same type of enforcement from groups like OFSA and the InterFraternity Council. So a double standard exists within the University for fraternities and other organizations. Fraternities have been saddled with both tired old stereotypes and common-sense rules. The rules are just, so much so that they should be extended to other students as well. The stereotypes, however, are something that both fraternities and the Penn community could live without.