Last week, campus media outlets were filled with reports on the Office of Residence Life’s policy change toward special interest housing and the implications that it may have for the Greek system as a whole. The Flat Hat ran a story under the headline “Res Life Policy Change Could Push Frats Out,” while The Virginia Informer ran a front-page story under the ominous banner of “The End of Frat Row?”
Columnists in both papers wrote pieces questioning the decision by Res Life to eliminate the buy-out option for fraternities residing in the Units, raising the in-house brotherhood quota by three spaces.
Reading these reports, one could easily believe that things aren’t going too well for fraternities at the College of William and Mary. But it’s not as bad as you might think — it’s worse. Far worse.
Before I get to the present, there are some important moments of the past that need to be understood. In 2003, after an alleged sexual assault incident involving an underage girl at a fraternity complex, former College President Timothy Sullivan convened a special task force to reexamine existing policies and recommend changes that could help the College protect its students and avoid future incidents. While on paper it appeared that there were few major changes, what actually happened was that fraternities were banned from having parties with alcohol without filing detailed guest lists, only serving one drink per hour to each guest and submitting to large police presences at their functions.
The irony of course was that the sexual assault incident had occurred behind closed doors in the Units. The College’s reaction to that incident actually made it more likely that such events would occur in the future by leading students to pregame heavily and drink liquor in locked dorm rooms.
In the years that followed, the campus Greek community tried time and again to work with Res Life and the Dean of Students Office to enhance student life on campus and create scenarios in which Greek organizations could be more accountable. But the administration was less interested in working with the fraternities than they were in ridding the campus of their presence. The fraternities might as well have been talking to a brick wall.
The fraternities didn’t have a choice. They had preferred the years before the Task Force, when their relationships with the police were largely amicable and the drinking culture was much healthier, but that option was no longer on the table. So, they did what anyone in that situation would do. They developed intricate plans to hide any drinking or partying. They dealt with probation — which was usually given to several chapters during Rush to decrease the likelihood that they would have enough members to fill their houses. They paid the constant fees to Res Life for vacancies, trash and property damage.
It’s no secret that the College’s alcohol policy puts students in harm’s way each weekend; everybody knows this. But more incredible is the method of enforcing the policies, which should be turned into a book and sold to education graduate programs for its almost step-by-step guide in how not to run an American college or university.
For instance, the Office of Student Affairs refused to install trash receptacles behind the fraternities during homecoming because they were afraid it would encourage drinking. Anytime that a beer can is discovered lying on the ground or resting in a trash bin in public areas, Greek organizations are charged.
Yet the fraternities have endured. In fact, more chapters have been established, and demand for the prime real estate of Frat Row grew. The administration was then left with two options. They could kick the fraternities off campus themselves, which was difficult because — fortunately — the College allows individuals and organizations to opt for student and faculty involvement in the judicial process, making it less likely that overzealous deans can throw fraternities off campus without a good reason.
Their second option was to raise the household brother quota and step up enforcement, forcing out many chapters that could not fill their houses and convincing others that they were better off voluntarily leaving because the conditions were almost unbearable. They chose the latter.
Res Life’s policy change was not a kneejerk reaction to the actions of a few chapters, nor was it an effort to make housing more accessible to students by removing on-campus vacancies. It was the logical next step for an administration that has done almost everything in its power to eradicate the fraternities.
I wonder how long it will take for Williamsburg to figure out that all the fraternities will be living and partying off campus in the next few years. That should be interesting.
Alexander Ely is a senior at the College.