Freeze ineffective
Associated Student Government’s recent resolution to halve the “freshman freeze” period, during which fraternities are not allowed to host events or advertise, is a step in the right direction for a more sensible University policy toward alcohol and partying.
We appreciate that NU is not a school like the University of Florida, where Greek life recruitment begins before classes even start. But the freshman freeze policy that initially was aimed at creating delayed recruitment at this point just creates an unsafe drinking environment for new students.
New Student Week is ostensibly a dry week. In practical terms, this is a joke. While some freshmen may be terrified enough of their new CAs to hestitate while pouring that first beer, we suspect that for the majority of new NU students, the lure of freedom from parental strictures means that unless they had previous moral reasons for not drinking, official “Wildcat Welcome” policy isn’t going to stop them. The same goes for attending frat parties.
What freshman freeze really means is that these students are now drinking in unregulated, off-campus environments that are far less safe than a frat house would be. It also creates a situation where anyone hosting the party faces such punitive repercussions for having freshmen there that they might not call for medical help when needed.
Freshman freeze is part of a larger University policy that has essentially ended the policy of having “wet” frats and put much of the Greek system on probation. These policies have led to a less safe environment for the new students they are trying to protect.
While Greek letter organizations take a lot of the bad press for partying and alcohol related incidents, in reality lots of student organizations host parties involving drinking. While we know the ASG resolution is not binding on the University, we think it’s a good first step in the creation of a better and safer NU student experience.
