A Toast To Double Standards

The Frat Boy News Daily College Column
By Chelsea Jo Simpson, staff columnist, The University of Arizona's Daily Wildcat

Congratulations, UA. You can drink yourselves senseless, pass out in the middle of the street and wait for the police department to come by. And when they do, go ahead and mutter any combination of Greek letters that you can think of. If you get "pi" in there, that's five fraternities. So drink up, and don't you worry about it - Greek Life will take the heat.

Last week, the Daily Wildcat ran the article titled "Seven fraternities, one sorority on probation for alcohol violations," listing the greek organizations that were supposedly under probation and the duration of the probation. If the student body is so interested in the alcoholic consumption of students and the ramifications they face for it, why don't we go ahead and list the sports teams, residence halls and clubs on campus who have any alcohol violations?

And while we're at it, let's just turn the front page into a weekly list of all students who are cited for minors in possession, their major and how long they have to pay their fine.

I really don't understand the utter fascination with Greek Life that provokes such constant scrutiny. Fraternities and sororities are constantly being watched; it's as if everyone is waiting for them to mess up. And let's be honest, this is college: Students are going to mess up regardless of whether or not they have Greek letters across their chest.

I'm not saying that fraternities should be free of all responsibility, but they aren't the root cause of the downfall of society, either. And more importantly, they are not responsible for the individual choices of students. If a student drinks himself - or herself - unconscious, whose fault is that?

Blaming the fraternity doesn't make sense, unless of course that's what we're looking for: someone to blame. And naturally, Greek Life will be called the cause of alcohol issues on campus. Because everyone knows that there are never any house parties and students certainly don't drink in their dorms.

Students, greek or not, make their own choice to drink or not. Students need to take responsibility for their own drinking, and stop blaming it on the easiest target. And yes, there have to be rules, regulations and repercussions to protect the students, the university and the individual chapters. But in the scheme of things, fraternities and sororities are probably a safer place to do what students are going to do anyway. Fraternities aren't doing anything different from non-greek students; they're just doing it on a larger scale with many more restrictions and much larger consequences.

And as far as getting comments from greeks, it's important to know that the president is the one designated to release information to the media, or to make any official statements. So when the article says "Officials from all seven fraternities declined to comment," one would assume that the each president was contacted and refused to comment. Neither of the presidents of the two fraternities that were specifically cited within the article were asked to comment before the article ran, according to the presidents of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Phi.

"I never declined to comment. Personally it made me look like I had something to hide," said the Sigma Phi president.

I have contacted half of the presidents of the fraternities and sorority that were on the list, all of which were more than happy to talk to me; after all, that's their job. But members are not "officials," and they typically cannot provide any information. If a comment is warranted, talk to the president.

Like it or not, Greek Life is a huge part of this campus. And like it or not, they will be blamed and held responsible under any and all circumstances. Cheers, UA!

Chelsea Jo Simpson is a sophomore journalism major at the University of Arizona. She is also a sister of Chi Omega and a staff columnist for The Wildcat Online. Email her at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.