The party scene on campus sits in dire straits. To make matters worse, frustrations mounted last night with a useless student forum, in which members of the community let their unhappy feelings be known while Dean of Students Bruce Reitman showed little desire to offer compromise. But, although the student body and fraternity system may think themselves helpless, the chance to fix this situation rests in their hands.
It is no coincidence that this police crackdown comes as news broke of the MIT settlement with Scott Krueger's family. By agreeing to pay $6 million to compensate for a death at an MIT fraternity, that university learned the hard way that the "see no evil" defense is no longer viable. But Tufts' rash response to its own Greek system has only worsened the situation on this campus by pushing students into the surrounding Medford and Somerville communities where police are itching to make arrests.
Fraternities must recognize that more than just the Krueger settlement brought this crackdown. They must realize that the rising number of students transported to the hospital after excessive drinking is unacceptable. A Tufts student should never end an evening of ice luge imbibing with a TEMS transport for emergency care. And there exists a serious problem when doctors take time from important cases to deal with drunk Tufts students.
Seemingly forever, a system of limited and unspoken neglect persisted in the relationship between fraternities and law enforcement at Tufts. No reasonable person would assert that the police and administration were not aware of the underage drinking. They simply trusted the students to behave and intervened only when things got out of hand - when party organizers overstepped the bounds of the established understanding.
All of a sudden, things have been turned upside down. Whereas last year people could stay at parties until two in the morning, a party that survives past 11:30 p.m. is considered a success. Police now arrive at fraternities with the intent of sending everyone home, a far cry from the numerous warnings they once gave before ending harmless festivities.
Although a relaxing of self-policing among fraternities has granted credence to Tufts harsher policies, the tighter controls are primarily unrelated to the actions of Tufts students. Nevertheless, to fix the rapidly deteriorating situation, the Inter-Greek Council (IGC) must take steps to exert a greater degree of self-control. And to rectify any perceived problems it must make tangible promises and give Tufts police no further excuses to strangle the social scene.
Its representatives must say that they understand personal responsibility; when a neighbor complains about excessive noise, the fraternity brothers should turn down the music. When the police make reasonable requests for crowd control, they must be cooperative. If people gather on the lawn, they'll be moved, no exceptions and no excuses. The houses won't say "we tried," and hope for sympathy from TUPD.
At this moment some members of the Greek system are rightly organizing a rally to show the administration how much public opinion they have on their side; this event is important. But if it wants to save its brothers the effort of going through this hassle year after year, a craftier response is required.
Some fraternities may assert that they do this already, and indeed some do. But if the entire community can band together, make promises, and stick to them, the ball will land squarely in the hands of Dean Reitman for his first clutch shot; after last night, one he can't afford to miss.
Clearly, the administration itself also has a large role in making things right again. It must welcome IGC reform with open arms and meet students half way in their efforts to police themselves. In other words, to truly rectify this situation, the administration has to trust its students. At the moment these promises are made, the administration, from Retiman to DiBiaggio, should take stock of its options. More near-riots like DEF Jam, more arrests by community police, worsened town-gown relations, or a controlled Greek system willing to be accountable for each of it's members. If the administration truly cares about student welfare, it will make fair concessions.
After all, it must be remembered that the Greek system isn't asking the administration to condone underage drinking, but rather requesting a return to the norms of the Tufts social life.
AEPi Treasurer Damon Meyer echoes the frustrations of many fraternity leaders when he speaks of a future without on-campus parties. "At some point, it becomes economically inefficient for fraternities to arrange parties that are broken up in their first hour." If he's right, then Tuft's social scene is headed for the grave and students to Medford/Somerville prisons.
The Greek system must show Tufts administrators (the governing hand behind police action each and every weekend) that it is ready to renegotiate the long-held, but now threatened student-university social contract. If the administration rejects the gesture, it will make clear that it doesn't trust its students, and encourage less constructive methods of protest, which may reach beyond harmless late-night rallies.
