Posted by 33Girl: "The genie of college drinking is out of the bottle, and it is not going back in. Dictates and ultimatums do not work (18th Amendment anyone?). 20 years ago, when the majority of states had an 18 or 19 year old drinking age, this wasn’t even an issue. Who thinks the college students of 1980 were more mature or able to handle drinking better than the college students of 2000?"
OK, I'll take that one on.
I seriously doubt the students of 1980 (or 1986 for that matter, when I associated) were more mature, or even less mature. The behavior itself has not changed, what changed is the general public perceptions of drinking. I can recall some of the good times I had back years ago, and, if those same kind of activities were done today, in public, as back then, we'd have been in big trouble.
Today's greek member unfortunately has us (meaning: 1970's-late 1980's greeks) to thank for many of the problems. The true "wild side" of greek life came of age back then, mainly due to the abolition of in loco parentis, and relaxing of rules by international org's headquarters (or by simply turning the other way).
What the greeks of today can show the greeks of the past is the TRUE meaning of brotherhood/sisterhood by getting back to the basics of their organizations founders.
I wouldn't trade many of the fun times I had as an UG, but, I also know that as a result of all the "fun," I did miss out on some of the real benefits of greek life. That is not to say the real benefits aren't fun - we just put ALL of our energy and resources into partying and drinking.
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