7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part I

Universities in Florida are unsure about what to do with Greek Life on campuses due to the recent deaths related to fraternity pledging.

The Who: University Administration in Florida

The What: Uncertainty about what actions to take regarding deaths involving fraternities.

The Why: Because there’s really no easy solution that benefits students and campus life as a whole.

·      Testing the Who:

o   This topic is not solely residing in Florida and is occurring across the nation at multiple universities, however, due to the recent incident at Florida State University involving an Alcohol related death to a fraternity “pledge” the talk amongst Florida administration has heightened regarding what actions to take.

·      Testing the What:

o   I would like to know if there are any cases in which administration at certain universities have found effective measures to ensure the satisfaction of students who may be involved or not in Greek Life as well as the safety of all students. Unfortunately, due to the change in culture from school to school not all measures would be effective in all schools.

·      Testing the Why:

o   I am interested to see if there is some single strong reason as to why administrations cannot successfully create some sort of policy that would allow them to easily quell the problems surrounding Greek Life at this time.

Interviews:

         I am personally in a fraternity here at UF. To conduct my interviews, I asked some of the brothers that I joined the fraternity with multiple questions about the state of Greek Life. I would begin by asking if they were aware of the recent tragedy that took place at FSU. Being in Greek Life, the topic was widely popular, thus, everyone that I asked was aware. Following I would ask each of my brothers what they would do without Greek Life and what I found was that many of my brothers would not have been as inclined to be involved with student organizations if it wasn’t for being encouraged by older brothers to hold up our legacy of student involvement. All of my brothers made me aware that they would definitely not feel as comfortable with the campus and the student population as a whole without the fast acclimation that came with joining a fraternity. I asked this quest because the Florida Board of Governors recently met to discuss whether creating a large policy overhaul or banning Greek Life at all Florida institutions would be a better idea. I followed up by asking which types of policies would be the most effective in fixing some of the problems involved with Greek Life at this time. They all thought that the Federal Government should look into newer policies regarding Alcohol Laws. Pointing out that many countries have earlier ages at which they are allowed to begin practicing safe habits for drinking alcohol would allow many young adults entering colleges and possibly Greek Life to become acquainted and smarter with alcohol. This was the end of my interviewing process.

What Have I Learned?:

         I learned that this situation really is a conundrum that no one really has the answer to fixing. Possibly federal law changes however there is no guarantee that this would work. It’s going to take a while to figure out and it could result in the end of Greek Life for good or for possibly a few years.