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Thanks for the update. Didn't realize that they have cleaned house to the extent that they have; perhaps the administrator who tried to impose deferred rush is gone too.
I'm aware that a Chi Psi pledge died from alcohol poisoning. Young people often do foolish things, and in a population of that size, once in awhile there is going to be tragedy. Blaming college fraternities is an easy target, and an attack that resonates in an academic culture eager to make Ward Churchill chairman of a department. When someone is killed by a drunk driver, no one realistically expects the drinking age to be raised to 70 and the speed limit lowered to 21. I have never liked bullies, and mid-level college administrators tend to try to bully the kids.
I'll concede two points to you: first, I do think that there is a different drinking culture in college today, different than when we were in school. back in the day, it was considered a virtue to be able to hold your liquor. Today, the trend in some cases seems to be to try to get drunk as quickly as possible.
Second. I think Colorado may be something like Florida (where I am) in that both states are wide open, wild and wooly, almost anything goes. I remember asking a friend of mine who had visited a great Greekcampus in the heartland (Kansas I think). I asked him how our chapter would compare on that campus. he thought about it for a moment and said, "If we were magically transported overnight and set down in the middle of that campus, two thinks would happen probably in the course of one week. First, we would absolutely dominate every competitive phase of fraternity life: sports, rush, sororities, everything. Our aggressiveness would frighten them. The second thing that would happen that week is that the university would kick us off campus and tell us never to return."
Deltalum, I can remember not too many years ago when your great chapter at Florida told your national office to buzz off (some issue to do with hazing), and the entire membership walked out. That was well over 100 men. I don't remember all the details but it was a big deal becasue the Delts were so strong. I think the members came back, but on their own terms or at least with some sort of compromise, and the Delts contirue to be great at Florida. My point is that Florida's not really a "southern" state like Alabama or Mississippi any more than Colorado is really a "heartland" state like Kansas or Nebraska. That reality presents an entirely different set of problems to the typical chapter advisor at those schools.
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