The population of any college or university campus can be broken down into two categories: the proponents of: drunken debauchery, (responsible) sexual promiscuity, and/or narcotics; and the people I never talked to that much. Often, those of us in the former group take things a little too far: for instance, when our parties result in property damage.
Generally, chaos, idiocy, and irresponsibility ensues.At Trinity University (my alma mater) in San Antonio, Texas, fraternities and sororities shun the traditional yearly “formal.” Rather than renting a dance hall and having a catered formal once a year, many Greek organizations at Trinity organize trips to beaches on the Texas coast (which is anything but glamorous), where fraternity or sorority members (and their dates) invade a beach town for a weekend of no-holds-barred intoxication (or, as this poorly informed article describes it, “...a Trinity tradition where Greek members say goodbye to departing seniors with a weekend bash at various hotels along the gulf coast.)
Generally, chaos, idiocy, and irresponsibility ensues. Sometimes, life throws in the extra bonus of “property damage.” Such was the case this weekend, when a sorority from Trinity held their beach bash in Port Aransas, Texas. According to the article, the “...girls made so much noise at a Port Aransas hotel that they attracted police, and left the rooms dirty enough to warrant extra cleanup.”
Sounds like my kind of party.
“...girls made so much noise at a Port Aransas hotel that they attracted police...”Unfortunately for the girls, Trinity officials felt otherwise, and upon hearing about the event, made the decision to ban any other planned beach parties this year. Aside from the ban being a ludicrous idea (after all, college kids are extremely resourceful at figuring out ways to get large groups of people together to get wasted – a ban won't stop that) it could cost $16,000 to organizations who have made deposits for their hotels but not yet held their beach parties.
The general manager of Beachgate CondoSuites in Port Aransas, where the girls and their dates stayed, doesn't know what all the fuss is about. “It's actually about the most tame group we have,” Michael Kuhn is quoted as saying in the linked article. “They have a good time and we love them to come. It got blown out of proportion.”
Felicia Lee, vice president for Trinity student affairs, explained the university's stance on the issue in a letter to the campus community, stating, “The university has reasonable grounds to believe that similar issues and violations would likely occur at upcoming beach weekend events. Given what the university knows about the past history of these events and the infractions during the two most recent weekends, we cannot in our professional, moral, or legal conscience allow these events to continue.”
That wasn't good enough for Trinity students, who held a sit-in today to protest the ban. Students argued that the only ones hurt by the ban were the four fraternities and sororities that had not held their beach formals yet.
We could argue all day long about whether the university's ban is appropriate or whether it violates students' rights. But I'm not going to do that. All I want to do is send a clear message to all the college kids out there:
Hi. I graduated from college in 2002. I know what it's like – you're just having fun, right? WRONG.Sounds like my kind of party.If you're like me, you grew up with people telling you that the world was your sandbox. Well guess what? It isn't. In the real world, if you knock down someone else's castle, there's a price to pay. You know what else happens in the real world? The actions of the minority lead to rules and regulations that can restrict the freedom of the majority. So while I understand that some of the Trinity students are upset that the actions of their peers this past weekend have ruined their fun (and their pocketbooks), unfortunately I have to say to them all: welcome to the real world.
Sometimes you can cause trouble and get away with it, but sometimes you get caught. You might as well be prepared to deal with the consequences when the latter happens.
[MySA.com]
Branden Hart, a TheSequitur.com assistant managing editor, works as an editor in San Antonio.
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