University of Michigan President encourages Greeks to clean up their acts
 

Interesting stuff coming from Michigan.

https://www.michigandaily.com/sectio...t-mass-meeting

Because no athletes, student senators or any other independents EVER drink too much or are inappropriate in sexual situations - and because none of those people ever take advantage of the hospitality of the Greek system. Boring and tiresome.

I work with and see a lot of Greek systems and, being near Michigan, feel like this particular Greek system is totally out of control. On many campuses, the "open house" parties have gone away but here, especially during Welcome Week, the parties are continuous with massive numbers of students on every lawn, in the street, everywhere. Fraternities have kiddie pools all over their lawns (picture 30-50 of them) and there are red solo cups absolutely everywhere. On Halloween, you can barely drive into the campus because the parties are massive and these parties are all at the huge fraternity houses.

Like I said, I've been to a lot of campuses and worked with a lot of Greek systems and this one is partying beyond what I've seen anywhere.

And if it is true that being Greek you are 40% more likely to experience sexual assault, then it doesn't matter who else is also guilty. It's time to clean up the Greek system and let the other problem areas deal with their own problems.

The problem is that sometimes these surveys say things like "have you ever been whistled at", the person taking the survey says yes, and then that gets included as "sexual assault" even if the person answering the question didn't believe it to be that.

I always have a big problem with these studies too as the nature of the support systems in the Greek system are going to find Greeks on average probably report sexual assaults at a much higher rate than people not associated with Greek Life.

I think Ski Weekend really pushed the administration over the edge last year. Also, football Saturdays are crazy. Kids don't tailgate; they pair for "pre-parties" that have gotten a lot wilder since I graduated. I don't know if there's necessarily more drinking at Michigan than at other schools. There is a lot of drinking at my school here--by Greeks and non-greeks alike. I think it's college culture in general.

I did also see that they are talking--once again--about deferred recruitment. No! No! No! They have been threatening this since I was in school. It's already bad enough with the current recruitment schedule, but it will be horrible if they make them wait until 2nd semester.

The Greek System at Michigan isn't perfect, but it isn't anywhere. Knee-jerk reactions to stories that make national headlines don't help anyone.

Back in the day, we paired with a fraternity for reserved football seating. Drinking was a non-issue before the game. Students were so focused on the game and the outcome, drinking just wasn't part of the deal. And if we lost, everyone was in the doldrums and no one drank afterward. Honestly, my parents consumed more alcohol in their alumni seats...there was a lady behind them who brought jello shots to the games every year and passed around the container after every touchdown.

While I wasn't too thrilled that the president mentioned football and Coach Harbaugh before academics, I think this may be what people remember...less focus on "going hard" and more focus on the tradition of academics and football.

It isn't just drinking- there is a whole lot of drug use going on too. My kids are this age and I know what they see and where they see it, and they see it more at Michigan than at a lot of other schools.

I don't think deferred recruitment would help anything. I'm also baffled that people think it would. But they aren't enforcing their own rules in their dorms either. I agree it's not just the Greeks but the Greeks do set a tone from the very start during Welcome Week.

Understood. The drug use is amazing to me. It's so scary. In my day, drinking was on thing, but any drug use was definitely on the down low and frowned upon (at least in my circles).

Any idea on recruitment numbers? I believe it starts tomorrow.