Or "Thank God we knew when to quit!"

All the exchange students from Europe I knew in undergrad could and did drink us American kids under the table on just about any occasion. I'm not surprised there is more binge drinking in Europe among that age group.

Most of my friends during my last two years of college were independents and their parties were every bit as crazy (and often crazier since they had no standards board to answer to) as the greek parties on campus. I definitely think it's a generational thing, not a Greek thing.

I did a lot of that my freshman year, but quickly realized that puking is not fun and being wasted is pointless. I don't get why it's necessary for some people to get black out drunk to have fun, especially after the first few forays into the world of partying freshman year. If I did have fun when I was that drunk, I don't remember it...so what's the point?

Truth.

Oh please. What about that old chestnut regarding the 60s - "If you can remember it, you weren't there?"

Honest to goodness, at my campus we weren't running around getting drunk in the 80s - or doing drugs - in my house. Some fraternities were known for their drunken shenanigans, but they were the exception, not the rule. The drinking age was 19 at the time - we drank, but not to excess. And in all the formals I attended as both an active and as an advisor, I can think of only 2 - 3 cases where girls or their dates had to be "talked to". I'd like to think these recent cases are also the exception, not the rule; hope everyone is paying attention and taking note.

Because here's the deal: You may think "Well, thank goodness it's not OUR group" or "Woo-hoo! We can take advantage of the misfortune of others", but to John and Joan Q. Public there is no difference - all the Greek letters sound alike to them and IT MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN YOUR GROUP. Several sororities on probation are going to turn off potential new members, which ends up hurting ALL the sororities. The bad behavior of one group reflects on ALL Greeks - it hurts us all, and it behooves us to make sure actives understand this type of behavior is UNACCEPTABLE and why.

I'm not being catty but I have a friend who moved here from Virginia and went back for college. Everyone in her family has always attended W&M and she said it is really hard to be a Pi Phi there. It is a lot of old money Virginians. She is a legacy on both sides of her family. She thinks Pi Phi is a private school kind of sorority and that it doesn't do well at public schools or this is what happens. I don't know what does everyone else think? Does it matter if Pi Phi is big at private schools? I know it sounds bratty for her to say 90% of the girls they take are legacies but does their strict requirements make them better behaved?

Some of the oldest chapters were at private schools like Stanford, Purdue, and Tulane. Alot also at the public schools surrounding IL.

W&M and Purdue ARE public schools. Every chapter is different. There are PLENTY of public schools where Pi Phi behaves just fine. Otherwise they wouldn't have as many chapters as they do.

I think it's more about the culture of the campus itself than it is about a public or private school. If a school is conservative, public or private, most of the Greek chapters probably are too. At a party school,public or private, you're going to find a lot more craziness among the Greeks.
Also, I agree with SWTX. This is going the give the Greek haters that much more ammunition and will hurt chapters everywhere, expecially the organizations involved in the recent incidents.
Oh, and BTW, William and Mary is a public school! ;)

I don't think the drinking to excess is anything new. I think the complete inability to cover it up is new. Then again, I'm from one of the most restrictive states in the union (and FWIW, Ohio was where everyone used to go to drink as they were one of the last to pass the 21 yr old drinking age) so I'm sure my perspective is different. It was just second nature with us.

QFP.

ORLY? Awesome to be such an expert and not even be Greek.

I don't know that I would say the problem is even drinking to excess - the problem seems to be in what is acceptable behavior when drinking to excess, or acceptable behavior, period. Of course, campus norms vary, but do y'all think current teens/early 20s have less of a sense of restraint? At the two universities I attended as an undergrad even when individuals drank too much they didn't indulge in the kind of destructive behavior that has landed the groups in this thread in hot water. I guarantee you that had groups trashed venues "back in the day" we would have heard about it, facebook or no.
As part of our pledge training (see how old I am?) we were given a very strict accounting of behaviors we would NOT indulge in - everything from walking while smoking (!) to never leaving the public areas of a fraternity house. I'm guessing that is no longer the case - and it sounds like unchaperoned formals are the rule rather than the exception. I hate to turn into a cane-shaking old fogie, but really - KIDS! I don't know what's wrong with these kids these days!

We never had chaperoned formals. I don't think anyone would have gone. I know I wouldn't have.

I believe we were required to have an alumna present and a certain number of assigned sober members including one member of our executive council. But our it could have been any alumna, AFAIK, the only restriction might have been requiring a certain number of years out of school. (And of course underage members were not supposed to drink either. Right.)

But it never felt chaperoned. Although we never destroyed our locations either so...