By

h4>Greeks are not the only ones who drink

I had a hard time reading Eric Groves opinion called “Greeks with No Booze? EGAD!.” Mr. Groves used his own negative stereotypes and bad interpretations to bad mouth the Greek system in an effort that he was claiming to protect the intersests of students. I decided to write to help him understand what he was actually writing about.

Greeks are not the only people who drink that go to this university. If the Greek community as a whole decided to not have another drop, the local liquor stores would have no problem staying open. An alcohol restriction is having five members of a fraternity over the age of 21 and one beer in the same room without filling out a party form two weeks in advance. The alcohol policy states that if people bring their own alcohol to your event, you must provide snacks for people to eat, purchase alternative beverages for them to drink, and pay for DPS to be there throughout the duration of the party. Mr. Groves called this a riotous party. One of the punished fraternities mentioned paid for DPS to check ID’s at the door and then was found guilty of having an underage girl in their party with a fake ID. DPS not only denied responsibility for letting the girl in, they claimed it was the fraternities fault.If Mr. Groves wants to know what the Greek system does that is positive he should pay more attention to the facts on paper. My fraternity, with less than 40 active members, raised over $80,000 for American Cancer Society last year. The fraternity grade point average is above the universities all-men’s average. Greeks make up a large part of the Student Senate, various student councils, and countless recognized student organizations. As for paying “5000 bones a year to have your butt cheeks taped together or drink from a toilet”, I think Mr. Groves watches entirely too much television. Eric, everyone with an Italian last name is not a business partner with “The Sopranos” family. All cops do not eat donuts and all Greeks do not want to be or act like Mr. Belushi in “Animal House.”

If Mr. Groves and Dr. Gifford are worried about the students at U of L they would understand what they are suggesting. If you choose not to drink in the same room with a DPS officer, you can always drink at any of the 10 off-campus bars and drive home drunk. The extremely popular techno drug scene is also always looking for new members to try their new forms of ecstasy on.

Turning your back on a possible problem is never the solution. The fraternities are at “uproar” mostly because the administration promised that alcohol would be dealt with on an individual basis. The decision was a disappointment to those fraternities like Triangle who did everything they could to have a responsible alcoholic event.

Jay Elmore
Former President of
Beta Theta Pi

Remember what lies ahead, but thank you for the past

We would like to take this opportunity express our gratitude to the many students, staff and faculty members who responded in such a positive way to the horrific acts of terrorism of September 11. By your words and actions, you helped to unite our grieving U of L family in a bond of solidarity that will continue to sustain us through the difficult time ahead.

We cannot presume to describe in detail the wonderful responses of so many on our campus to the events of the past week. Some examples include the spontaneous performances by groups from our School of Music; the faculty who responded to students’ needs to discuss the attack during class; all who reached out to reassure our international students who were frightened and uncertain; the meaningful and well-attended prayer and remembrance service on the Quad; and Monday’s Unity cookout, where hundreds of students, faculty, and staff, representing all ages, ethnicities, nationalities, and faiths, came together to embrace one another. As a community, we have reached out to each other and to the families of victims, through donations and written reflections, to say we grieve with you.

As we strive to return to our active daily lives, we need to remember in the days, months, indeed years ahead, that the acts of compassion and words of comfort that have defined us these past ten days and have brought us together as a diverse and embracing family should continue to define us-always.

The two of us have written this note to you because we are committed to working together to achieve this end, creating unity within our diversity. We ask that your compassionate actions, the spirit of volunteerism, and the expression of so many faiths represented on campus that have sought to unify and comfort a grieving world continue, and indeed, intensify. And finally, we ask for your continued support as we recommit ourselves to promoting further diversity and engendering greater unity within our U of L community.

Everett Egginton
Director, International Center
Mordean Taylor-Archer
Vice Provost for Diversity and Equal Opportunity