The Party Is Over

Luis Rojas

ENGW 1101

Professor Young

4/16/15

The Party Is Over

Rutgers, by far, is considered one of the top schools in New Jersey. Students graduate from Rutgers and they are looked at as if they graduated from the best university in the world. However, one also has to remind his or her self that no university is perfect and that this isn't the first time Rutgers is the center of attention in the media's eyes. Now, one must stop and ask, what could have possibly happened that caused Rutgers to ban fraternity and sorority parties throughout campus?

Given that this isn’t Rutger’s first rodeo, it isn’t easy to just overlook the fact that this is a tremendous decision on the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affair’s part. According to Bill Kutz, owner of Peter’s Liquors, “… the university can do whatever it wants, but these kids are still going to party” (Coleman). With the information that is given, everyone can conclude that nothing is going to stop these students from partying outside of campus. Most of these fraternities have their own houses in which they can party all they want in. one can assume that the university knows this and while they hope their rules will help it seems as if all the University of Rutgers is trying to accomplish is get their hands clean from all the incidents occurring inside of the campus. The simple question keeps recurring, what could have possibly happened that cause Rutgers to ban fraternity and sorority parties throughout campus? Well, the slow process of the party ban started after a series of alcohol related issues on campus. starting back in 2014, a girl named Caitlyn Kovacs, A 19 year old who attended Rutgers University at the time, died from alcohol poisoning at a fraternity party September of that year. It does not take a genius to understand that the banning of fraternity and sorority parties can highly prevent anymore deaths due to alcohol inside the campus, but also keep in mind that by banning parties on campus, there will be an increase in parties outside the campus and also and increase in deaths. “Fraternities and sororities will be permitted to hold their end-of-the-year "formals" and other events arranged at off-campus facilities where third-party vendors serve alcohol” (Heyboer). It is nice to know that the university still wants its students to be happy by not canceling their end-of-year formals, but at the same time, knowing that a third party vendor will be giving out alcohol is not so much reassuring as much as frightening. 

To illustrate, when parents take toys, or now-a-days phones, from their kids, those kids for the most part attempt to find some type of way of using the toy or phone. Fraternities and sororities will do the same thing to go around the campus’s rules. According to nj.com, students of Rutgers, gathered at the university’s student center to discuss the “social probation” and it came to mind that the party ban would affect the graduating seniors in the sense that they would not be able to have their farewell gatherings. What the Greek organizations should have done after the social probation was passed was tone it down for a while until all the tragic events prior to the ban had been forgotten. In November 2014, a fraternity was shut down due to a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon was taken to the hospital after heavy drinking. It was also found that the member was drinking while underage (Kingkade). All that is left to do for these fraternities and sororities is attempt to cope with the ban and learn how to party without having to risk the lives of anyone.

What could have possibly happened that caused Rutgers to ban fraternity and sorority parties throughout campus? Simple, a lot of college students that do not know how to control themselves and do not understand the definition of “enough”. Most of these students go to these fraternity and sorority parties and in order to impress other members, they start drinking and continue drinking beyond what their limit is. While yes, the party ban will reduce the deaths and drinking throughout campus, it will raise such rates off-campus by a lot. By now, everyone can see that the party ban was just there waiting to happen. There is enough evidence that supports the ban and won’t be reversed any time soon. Seems like the party is over for the Scarlet Knights. The concern now is, how long until something tragic happens outside campus and Rutgers University is inevitably the center of attention once again?

Works Cited

Coleman, Vernal. "Reaction to Rutgers Frat Party Ban Mixed among Neighborhood Residents." NJ.com. N.p., 9 Apr. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/ 2015/04/liquor_store_sales_remain_brisk_following_rutgers.html>.

Heyboer, Kelly. "Rutgers University Bans Fraternity and Sorority Parties." NJ.com. N.p., 06 Apr. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nj.com/education/2015/04/ partys_over_at_rutgers_university_bans_fraternity.html>.

Kingkade, Tyler. "Rutgers Bans Fraternity Parties Following Alcohol-Related Problems." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/rutgers-fraternity-parties_n_7014072.html>.