Purdue Greek and Co-ops on Probation

[karodger]

*first, sorry if this is the wrong place but I couldn't decide where to put it*



Up until this year I lived in a Cooperative house on campus. That's actually how I met my girlfriend. Got the word today from a friend who still lives there that all Greek houses and Cooperatives are on probation. You may have seen in the news that a sophomore was found dead in her dorm room. She had been drinking and choked to death on her own vomit in the middle of the night. As a result every single house has been punished and placed on probation. There is to be zero alcohol at the houses for at least the remainder of the year. The full details of the probation have yet to be published but she said they were much more serious than just no alcohol in house. I'm curious to see what you all think of this?

I feel very deeply for the young girl's family and friends but this just seems to be a very unfair move for Purdue to make.

1) There are a handful of dry houses in both systems. I lived at Fairway Cooperative and we had a zero alcohol policy for the entire county. Not to mention there are several fraternities and many sororities that do not allow alcohol in the house.

2) There are MANY places (i.e apartments/houses) very very close to campus where people can drink with their friends. There is no way of proving where the young lady was the night before. They are just pinning it on the 2 housing systems.

Again I do not condone underage drinking (though I was involved in that a handful of times before my birthday) or the more serious lack of responsibility in general. I just don't see how they can punish thousands of students for an incident that many if not all had nothing to do with?

 

[Aggar]

I lived in a fraternity on campus. Our house allowed alcohol. Sure we had underage kids drinking but so did every other house. If they can not prove where she was the night before then they have no good reason to put them all on probation. She couldve easily been at a house party. We had people that watch out for ones that have drank too much an cut them off and get them some help. "sober patrol". It sucked being on it but made it a little safer for everyone else. They do have a system that governs the housing systems. I was in that too. They do a good job. But maybe they're slacking a little bit.

 

[irishfan]

A dry house only means that drinking is not allowed in the house. It does NOT mean that all the brothers can't get trashed at a bar or house party and then go home. IF you drink enough somewhere else then go home and cause a problem or have alcohol poisoning then that still kills the fraternity. The rules have changed over the years and if you want to keep a fraternity or other housing system open then you need to keep the idiots out. Good Luck!! Also, fraternity life may be the thing for some people but it is growing more unpopular on a lot of campuses. At Ball State they had a real hard time even filling their numbers and a few houses have closed up over the last several years.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Can you state the source of this information? I know you said that a friend told you but we all know how rumors get started. I can find nothing about this happening. Edit: Nohing about the punishment and probation that is.

 

[Eddie]

Too bad for the girl that died. That sucks, but...

Just because one person did something wrong should not be a basis to punish everyone. I do not believe in or support those types of actions. If the girl had driven recklessly and crashed her car would they take everyone else's car away? It sounds like a knee jerk response to a tragic incident. I do not think that rules like this really prevent anything.

 

[XMil]

Welcome to collectivist thinking. If it happens once, to one person, all potentially risky behavior should banned for everybody.

 

[Glock_Breaker]

It's really sad that these kids can't seem to party without completely binging and going nuts.

The inhibition lowering effects of alcohol aside, how can they be so completely clueless of their own limits?

 

[Clay]

Sad story.

I agree that you can't punish the housing groups for something like this, especially when you dont know where she was drinking. All this will do is push the parties elsewhere, and it sure won't stop them.

SO I have a question since you lived in a co-op. What is the difference between a co-op and a fraternity/sorority??

 

[XMil]

It's really sad that these kids can't seem to party without completely binging and going nuts.

The inhibition lowering effects of alcohol aside, how can they be so completely clueless of their own limits?

To be fair, how do you know where your limit is, until you find it? I was a kid once, after worshiping at the temple of the Porcelain God a few times, I learned where the limit was. It's more surprising to me, that this doesn't happen more often.

 

[Donnelly]

Hard for me to feel bad for college students being put on probation and not being allowed to drink on campus. College is for learning. I've seen too many kids get caught up in living "the college life", including binge drinking, often to the detriment of their grades. Besides, as a student, you already have to check your rights at the door, so to speak, when it comes to carrying on campus. Heck, drinking isn't even a right. If I were to invest my effort into having the college allow one or the other, I would be pushing for my God-given, or "natural" rights, as enumerated in the Bill of Rights, to be allowed on campus.

 

[DownByTheTracks]

Purdue tends to always knee jerk whenever something bad happens on campus. The students freak out and complain and then find new ways to get around the rules. Life will go on for the Greek community...

 

[Knife Lady]

Sorry if I dont seem sympathetic to your thread. I dont understand the big deal. You can drink at lots of places other than where you live. I thought you moved and dont live there anymore? So what is the big deal? You are upset cause it is not convenient now or what? The big deal to me is the girl that died from drinking. There is a student almost every year if not every year who drinks too much and dies. Very sad that drinking seems to be more of a priority than getting the education that lots of money is being spent on. I think they are trying to tell you that alcohol can kill. Maybe you should focus on that and of course your education.
Sorry not trying to sound like a prude but enjoy your young life but in a safely manner.

 

[Indy317]

I feel very deeply for the young girl's family and friends but this just seems to be a very unfair move for Purdue to make.

Again I do not condone underage drinking (though I was involved in that a handful of times before my birthday) or the more serious lack of responsibility in general. I just don't see how they can punish thousands of students for an incident that many if not all had nothing to do with?

I have never believed that alcohol should be banned, nor do I fully support a 21 year old drinking age. I believe that the public consumption of alcohol should be restricted, but drink as much as you want in a private residence or at your own home/apartment/etc.. The reason I believe this is because this nation glamorizes having to have and alcoholic beverage as well as, from 14 years old till marriage, must consumer large amounts of booze to have any sort of fun.. It seems the younger generation (and I would pin that at 35 and younger) MUST have alcohol to survive.

Universities almost always lean left, and the liberal mindset seems to always be more towards punishing the many for the actions of a few. Purdue admin is likely going nuts over four student deaths in a relative short period of time. Plus, everyone files lawsuits now. I would say there is a 95% chance of some lawsuit being filed in this girls death. Students, and more so their parents, pay the bills. Purdue and IU only gets a fraction (not a small one, but not 100% either) of their budget covered by taxes. Donations, tuition, room and board pay the rest (the bulk actually). So if too many kids start dying at a particular school, parents start wondering if that school is safe.

There was a rich white girl who was a UCSD student that died likely due to a mix of cocaine and booze. Of course when a rich white girl dies, the admins freak. This is a $$$ issue, on many ends: Donations, kids choosing not to go to that university, parents not donating, etc.. As such, UCSD went all out. Eventually, 96 people were arrested, of which, 75 were students.

Drinking is one thing, but now we have such weak young people, that young adults who you would think would NEVER try coke, meth, etc. don't have what it takes to overcome peer pressure. While our society is moving towards a more liberal attitude with recreational drug use, combined with the babying of our 14-25 year old youth population, nothing good will come of this.

Purdue is going to crack down. Ball State did the same thing after the "drunk" student was shot. South Bend PD are also pissing off the Notre Dame alcoholics because they are busting up parties. The funny thing is, there are still a lot of school admins who want the drinking age lowered. To me, things will only get worse, but too many college admin types would rather send drunks to the ER then locking them up. I see both sides, but if the universities handcuff their own police departments, and get the local city/county PDs to back off, tragedy will happen. As we speak of this incident at Purdue, a lawsuit has been filed in the case of the Wabash teen that died.

 

[Indy317]

It sounds like a knee jerk response to a tragic incident. I do not think that rules like this really prevent anything.

Knee jerking is how things are done now. Recently, some junior high kid took a pellet gun to a Mt. Vernon High School (Fortville, IN) home football game. That incident caused the admin to issue a rule: No pre-high school kids (intermediate school, junior high, whatever) will now be allowed to hangout during the game. While the game is in session, kids must be seated in the stands. The school admins made comments about them not being a babysitting service, yada yada yada. A few parents (maybe a lot, not sure) weren't too happy with this. Junior high kids hanging out at a controlled event is like a rite-of-passage. One guy says he doesn't want the school to babysit his 12 or 13 year old daughter, but that while he is at the game watching it, it shouldn't be an issue for her and her friends to hangout. If she does something wrong, she should get punished by both her parents and the school...that seemed to be his message. He basically said that his daughter and others her age are at a stage in life where they are mingling with others on a more personal level since they have gone through, or are going through, puberty. They don't care for the football game and neither do many of the other kids. So he predicted parents and kids would just stay home, causing reduced attendance at the games.

It seems to be easier to issue more and more rules on the group rather than just dealing with the bad seed. Just the way things are done now.

 

[CSK22]

A dry house only means that drinking is not allowed in the house. It does NOT mean that all the brothers can't get trashed at a bar or house party and then go home. IF you drink enough somewhere else then go home and cause a problem or have alcohol poisoning then that still kills the fraternity. The rules have changed over the years and if you want to keep a fraternity or other housing system open then you need to keep the idiots out. Good Luck!! Also, fraternity life may be the thing for some people but it is growing more unpopular on a lot of campuses. At Ball State they had a real hard time even filling their numbers and a few houses have closed up over the last several years.

Really? I can name 3 houses on campus who do not allow you to drink within the county as part of their contract.

 

[iamaclone45]

The Exponent - Purdue's Student Newspaper

UPDATE (10:37 am): Greeks, cooperative housing cancel all alcohol-related functions until further notice

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By Staff Reports
Publication Date: 09/23/2010
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In response to concerns raised over current campus social practices, the leadership of Purdue's cooperative houses, fraternities and sororities have agreed to a social moratorium on drinking in their houses and chapter facilities. In addition, the moratorium will also include any function with alcohol, regardless of location.

The leadership officers will reconvene next Wednesday to decide on an immediate plan of action.

Nick Kitchell, Interfraternity Council president, said this isn't a response to the death of a student in Hillenbrand Hall over the weekend, but a response to the social culture on Purdue's campus.

Kitchell said this response is especially focusing on hard alcohol and serving alcohol to minors.

The Exponent will continue to follow this story and have more on it in tomorrow's issue.

 

[Eddie]

I didn't go to Purdue, is Hillenbrand Hall a cooperative, Sorority or Fraternity?

 

[iamaclone45]

Purdue Greeks agree to stop drinking in campus houses | jconline.com | Journal and Courier

Purdue Greeks agree to stop drinking in campus houses

Leaders from Purdue's fraternities and sororities agreed Wednesday night to a social moratorium on drinking in their houses and chapter facilities.


The moratorium also extends to any function, regardless of location, said Nick Kitchell, president of the Interfraternity Council and Purdue senior. It will continue indefinitely.

"We agreed to impose this idea until we develop a solution to prevent underage drinking," he said. "It's more of a social accountability, with how the culture has been going at Purdue and recent events on campus."

The presidents in Purdue's Greek system have agreed to reconvene next Wednesday to decide on an immediate plan of action following the moratorium.

"We're using our own self-government to hold each other accountable," Kitchell said.

The meeting on Wednesday night lasted for three hours and was "a very sobering time," he said.

"Everyone recognized some problems they've seen on campus," Kitchell said. "We all wanted to come together to make a safer campus."

Purdue's fraternity and sorority life consists of 81 chapters organized into four councils: Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, and Panhellenic Association.

The Purdue Cooperative community consists of 12 houses, seven women and five men, organized in the Purdue Cooperative Council.

For more on this story, read Friday's Journal & Courier.

 

[iamaclone45]

I didn't go to Purdue, is Hillenbrand Hall a cooperative, Sorority or Fraternity?

Upper class-men residence hall.

 

[Eddie]

Upper class-men residence hall.

Shouldn't that be where they ban drinking? Or maybe they should ban sophomore girls?