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Deferred rush was a tactic used to try and weaken the greek system and make sure that the university has a nice convienient excuse if anything else did happen. It's well documented that deferred rush does nothing to curb alcohol abuse or underaged drinking. That is why the fraternities refused to take on added hardships at the request of the CU admin. It simply didn't make sense.
On this same line, it's also meaningful to note that this incident happened in spring semester, outside of any recruitment event and the student had no real affiliation with the fraternity. So deferred rush would have had no impact on what happened. What's needed is realistic drug and alcohol education for incoming students. Something the greek community, at great expense since they're no longer recognized by the university, has taken upon their shoulders. The fact that Theta Xi had not only sober security at the party, which is something that you would never find at any house party on the hill, but also EMS techs, wristbands for those over 21 and police notification of the party, shows how seriously the greek community takes the risk of alcohol abuse and underaged drinking.
Nothing happened at that party that doesn't regularly happen at any bar on the hill. If I were anyone looking for answers I'd start not with the fraternity, but with Jesse's friends and the CU dorm staff who should have been watching him as zealously as the men of Theta Xi. I'm not trying to shift blame or anything. It's a terrible thing when someone with so much potential is lost, but be realistic about who had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy. Rest assured it's keeping me up at night, wishing that there were something more that could have been done.
Last edited by Lorem Ipsum; 04-16-2006 at 05:58 AM.
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