Another Reason to THINK Before You Send an E-mail
 

The Alpha Gamma Delta chapter at Arkansas State in under an interim suspension, due to a member sending an e-mail concerning an upcoming social. In the e-mail, she tells them about bringing their real or fake ids to the party, and how to get around the bartender carding them if their id is fake.

http://www.asuherald.com/mobile/news...-ids-1.2515816

A copy of the e-mail is on a link at the end of the article.

Here's my question. Are there really college students out there so clueless that they need to be TOLD to bring fakes if they have them???

^^^ Co-sign

Facepalm.

^Ditto. There's dumb and then there's DUMB.

I like this quote from the Jonesboro police chief -

"I can't prove at this point that they actually did it," Yates said. "It's one thing to send out a foolish e-mail indicating that the rules are going to be relaxed. It's another thing for it to actually be that way...It's not against the law to be stupid. If it was we'd have more people in jail than we do now."

Ditto, sister.

I got this via e-mail Google Alert a few days ago. I hate to say it, but it should really be against the law to be stupid.

Oh no...

I'm aquatinted with the most recent past president of the chapter. My heart aches for her right now- mostly because I know she never would be stupid enough to let this e-mail be sent if she had seen it.

I feel for her too, and for the entire chapter. I'm sure, in hindsight, they all (I hope!) realize what a colossal error this was. Some days you have to be really, really fast to catch stupid before it gets away. I hope things work out for them and they're able to strengthen the chapter as a result.

A greater concern for me: how did this sort of thinking ever happen? Is it a product of the twitterverse or something? Granted, I'm old, and certainly no innocent, but back in the day we'd never have broadcast something like this. Which isn't to say we didn't think it. Or do it ;). But we knew it was illegal and would reflect badly on the Fraternity and our Greek community, so we laid low. When did flagrant, evidently blissfully ignorant law-breaking become acceptable? Did they even realize the consequences of their actions? And I'm not just referring to this chapter, or all Greeks, or any specific group. I've worked in Public Safety a long time, and the number of young people who admit to illegal drug and alcohol use, and act surprised when punishment seems imminent, astonishes me. Did no one teach them to distinguish the difference between right and wrong, legal or illegal? Or do they know but not care, or think it doesn't apply to them?

Baffled.

This is why, if you're involved with collegians, you need to sit the whole chapter down for a talk about how to police their stuff on the internet--how to assume that everything you say ends up in the student newspaper, or worse, as an exhibit in a criminal or civil lawsuit.

Hopefully, if you have that discussion on a frequent enough basis, make sure that your standards/whatever committee actually punishes even the smallest transgressions, these sorts of incidents can be kept to a minimum.

Are you really saying you're baffled that college kids drink? Or just that they'll readily admit to it?

Do you view the 21-to-drink rules as being more malum in se or malum prohibitum?

Been there, done that.....

No matter how hard you try to 'put the fear of God' in your undergrad members, there is always that one rogue member who insists on doing it their way.

I don't think it's any more "flagrant" than anything we did back then. We just knew to keep our damn mouths shut. This is the generation that it's been said over and over shares more than ever with their parents - I honestly think it's a product of that. Their home training is lacking. If you've come home drunk or JBF to your mom and she greeted you with a "hi honey! let's make popcorn!" why on earth would you think that your actions are going to have any consequences anywhere else?

So far, that hasn't been my experience.

It's not so much "fear of God," and if I said that, that's a poor choice of words. It's more about having members understand how they are part of us and that everything they do reflects on the chapter.

The simple if you do X, then you will be punished, isn't always a successful way to motivate kids to behave. They tend to act more to further their own interests. If they are proud of their letters and proud of what their organization stands for, then hopefully, they won't do anything to sully your organization's honor.

And when they do, the culture of mutual accountability kicks in and slip-ups are handled.

Collegians do need to understand that if certain things, like underage drinking, are brought to their HQs attention, those HQs are bound due to liability reasons to act harshly. I sometimes question whether that's enough on the part of any given HQ due to the immediate response everyone, including greeks has to these sorts of press releases, i.e., "What.. college kids drink? [shock!]"

I think lawyers who use latin words among non-lawyers are trying to show off.

This was one person at one chapter. I suspect even in your day, one person at one chapter did something stupid and get caught. And kids have been drinking/using drugs underage since there was an age limit/since drugs became illegal.

I always see "kids these days" and I'm pretty sure that "kids these days" are just about the same as "kids in those days"