As of November 7, Washington State University’s Greek row has placed a ban on essentially all social events, including but not limited to exchanges, open parties, date dashes, formals, etc. I am a coug who is also a member of the Greek community, and do not view this as a bad thing or as a punishment in any way shape or form.
The way I view it, and the way many of my fellow students, even those who are not members of the Greek community, view it as a very positive thing. The IFC and Panhellenic councils have decided to take a stand for some serious issues on many college campuses. The first being sexual assault, which is all too common on college campuses. Alcohol, which one could argue does not turn someone into a rapist, is often involved in these kinds of incidents. A rapist is a rapist, intoxicated or sober. Without the influence of alcohol, a victim could have a better chance at not becoming a victim. All around, the environment is safer without alcohol. There’s just a lower likelihood of unfortunate events taking place overall. And this brings up another issue being addressed by this moratorium. There have been far too many people falling from roofs, or balconies. It’s easy to read articles and police reports about such incidents and laugh it off as a casual or funny thing because they ended up unharmed and it’s easy to brush it off as a “ridiculous” thing or “stupid college kids”, but that’s not the whole story. It’s an overall safety concern for the people on our campus and the greater good of the city of Pullman. Our paramedics should not have been as busy as they have in the last few weeks leading up to the release of this moratorium. Just because it hasn’t been you and your personal safety endangered, doesn’t mean it won’t be next week. It could be your friends. Any way you spin it, there’s no good outcome for someone getting hurt, and if this moratorium can help people to realize that then I will support it.
This moratorium also presents an opportunity for all those in and out of the Greek community. Why do you go to WSU? Are you here because you love it, or do you love the party lifestyle? Who do you want to be? And are you setting yourself on the right track to be that person?
Washington State is so much more than a party school and offers so much more than prominent Greek life. If you are attending WSU just to go out and party every weekend, then you’re missing the point of higher education and wasting your money. Taking away this major source of parties leaves one with a lot of extra time to ponder some deeper questions, like who are you, who do you want to be? Why are you a part of your fraternity or sorority? Which I think are important questions in college because this is the time we’re all supposed to be figuring out these things.
You’re in college, hopefully, because you’re chasing some kind of dream, looking for something more in the world, there’s some kind of goal in mind. You’re only young once, so yes, go have fun and make memories, but remember the big picture. I think this moratorium will impact members of the Greek community even more positively because they are given this time to truly focus on the values of their sisterhood or brotherhood. And that’s really what it’s all about. There’s a reason sororities are rooted in values and tradition and not how much beer you can chug. Fraternities, although the beer drinking aspect may seem a little more important in this space and time, are all about producing high-quality men who are strong and can lead our society in a positive direction.
So, I as a current Washington State student and member of the Greek community, ask those of you on the outside looking in to just keep these things in mind and think twice before asking me if I plan on transferring, or if I regret going Greek or attending WSU after all that has happened, because the answer to all the above will be no. Because today, tomorrow, and forever, go cougs.
