Old Gold and Black Article discussing the Administration

[AnonymousDeac]

Or it just makes the divide even greater because it causes Greeks to resent the random kids that show up uninvited to their parties. If you tried to do this at most universities, a lot of the "highly regarded" fraternities would just laugh at you and kick you out/not let you in. I don't know if there's a happy medium or not.

Very good point.

When I toured WashU as a high school senior, they were very proud of their open party system and that was definitely a strong point as a high school senior.

As to your point, fraternities find a way to "deal with GDIs" that come to their party if they don't want them. I remember as freshman one fraternity would actually make you correctly answer trivia questions before getting a beer. Another fraternity would spread rumors about things they did to the beer to prevent freshman/GDIs from asking for beer.

I personally think that's pretty clever/funny but I could see why it would upset some people.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

why do they resent random kids? b/c they have to share a few beers (maybe) that cost a few pennies? if greeks really wanted wake to be better they'd continue to promote open parties to make wake a better party school in general.

 

[AnonymousDeac]

why do they resent random kids? b/c they have to share a few beers (maybe) that cost a few pennies? if greeks really wanted wake to be better they'd continue to promote open parties to make wake a better party school in general.

1) Beer
2) More dudes usually means more competition for chicks.
3) Other than freshman, GDI's don't usually come to parties bringing other girls, thus it just means more dudes.

 

[wfudkn]

Yikes. What year was this? We had quite a few large parties (30+ people) in Polo my senior year and I don't remember anyone ever getting in trouble.

Same here. We had a party in our suite in Polo every Wednesday night and the only times we got in trouble were because of noise, not because there was a party.

 

[RidingDeac]

Yikes. What year was this? We had quite a few large parties (30+ people) in Polo my senior year and I don't remember anyone ever getting in trouble.

Fall 2008. It was before classes even started, but the RA was a total douche. He called the cops on us because he thought it would be a dangerous situation. Luckily my roommate was an EMT on campus so the cops knew her and one of them taught my RAD class, so they were super chill (they even admitted that there was no reason for them to be there). The RA also took ID #s from everyone (of course there were maybe 2 underage kids there), but the cops threw the list out.

 

[awakegirl]

Yikes. What year was this? We had quite a few large parties (30+ people) in Polo my senior year and I don't remember anyone ever getting in trouble.

I'm assuming you graduated when I did- and yes, I can remember having huge parties at the Jax-Fabian-Drew apartment.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

1) Beer
2) More dudes usually means more competition for chicks.
3) Other than freshman, GDI's don't usually come to parties bringing other girls, thus it just means more dudes.

again, getting a beer at a shitty, dark dirty lounge party is pretty difficult for a GDI w/out a connection at the party (said person w/ connection is probably welcome anyway) and beers cost like 50 cents or less.

Cost of throwing a "good" party.

my guess is that the brothers hooking up with chicks at parties aren't really feeling the "competition" from freshmen dudes. i think that's just a perception.

when it's rush time all the parties are jammed with underclassmen dudes, but the other semesters it's taboo? what?

 

[rjequalsmj]

Could you give some examples?

Certainly, my sister went to Grinnell which is a very small liberal arts college approx 2000 students, so yes I agree it is different, but they are consistently top 20 liberal arts school, they basically let the students run everything. From what food is served in the dining hall, to concerts, to usage of drugs and alcohol on campus. They frequently have all campus events and parties where students are not carded, etc.

Most other things are purely speculation but I've visited friends at uva and they didnt have the same big brother feel. My biggest complaint is the lack of campus events or the strict alcohol enforcement at said events. I just think the way things are done splinters the student body as opposed to promoting a community. If you want to party you have to do it off campus cause lounge parties are terrible and their are always people looking to get you in trouble. It's college keep the winston police off campus and let the kids do what they want for the most part. I'm of the opinion that as long as your not being an asshole or harming yourself or someone else who cares if you are drinking beers or smoking pot or whatever.

 

[AnonymousDeac]

again, getting a beer at a shitty, dark dirty lounge party is pretty difficult for a GDI w/out a connection at the party (said person w/ connection is probably welcome anyway) and beers cost like 50 cents or less.

Cost of throwing a "good" party.

my guess is that the brothers hooking up with chicks at parties aren't really feeling the "competition" from freshmen dudes. i think that's just a perception.

when it's rush time all the parties are jammed with underclassmen dudes, but the other semesters it's taboo? what?

I mean it's pretty simple. Would you rather have a party with 50 of your male friends and 50 chicks, or a party with 100 guys (50 randos?) and the same amount of girls.

Even if the other guys may not be "competition," their presence is still not beneficial. They can get jealous that they're crush is getting hit on, they can make the girls want to leave b/c their uncool, or they can just make the party look lame.

I'm not saying I disagree with the policy, but it is very understandable why fraternities are against it.

 

[rjequalsmj]

I think bigger parties in general is the answer where the school tries to do something where multiple frats throw said party, that way its hard to tell either way who's in what and crap like that.

 

[HeavyPetter]

Guess who freshmen guys are most likely to be scamming on . . . freshman chicks. So when the freshman guys aren't there, guess who's scamming on the freshman chicks.

 

[wfudkn]

Do frats get in trouble if a frosh gets drunk at their party and something happens, like they pass out on the quad, or they go to student health or something like that? If so, I would think that would be one reason frats would want a closed door policy which would allow them to monitor more closely who is at their party.

 

[TownieDeac]

Certainly, my sister went to Grinnell which is a very small liberal arts college approx 2000 students, so yes I agree it is different, but they are consistently top 20 liberal arts school, they basically let the students run everything. From what food is served in the dining hall, to concerts, to usage of drugs and alcohol on campus. They frequently have all campus events and parties where students are not carded, etc.

Most other things are purely speculation but I've visited friends at uva and they didnt have the same big brother feel. My biggest complaint is the lack of campus events or the strict alcohol enforcement at said events. I just think the way things are done splinters the student body as opposed to promoting a community. If you want to party you have to do it off campus cause lounge parties are terrible and their are always people looking to get you in trouble. It's college keep the winston police off campus and let the kids do what they want for the most part. I'm of the opinion that as long as your not being an asshole or harming yourself or someone else who cares if you are drinking beers or smoking pot or whatever.

Here's an interesting doc done by current students on alcohol policy at Wake.

link

 

[ImTheCaptain]

I just think it's a A) a figment of the imagination and B) the wrong way to go about complaining about open parties.

 

[GreenDeac]

Certainly, my sister went to Grinnell which is a very small liberal arts college approx 2000 students, so yes I agree it is different, but they are consistently top 20 liberal arts school, they basically let the students run everything. From what food is served in the dining hall, to concerts, to usage of drugs and alcohol on campus. They frequently have all campus events and parties where students are not carded, etc.

Most other things are purely speculation but I've visited friends at uva and they didnt have the same big brother feel. My biggest complaint is the lack of campus events or the strict alcohol enforcement at said events. I just think the way things are done splinters the student body as opposed to promoting a community. If you want to party you have to do it off campus cause lounge parties are terrible and their are always people looking to get you in trouble. It's college keep the winston police off campus and let the kids do what they want for the most part. I'm of the opinion that as long as your not being an asshole or harming yourself or someone else who cares if you are drinking beers or smoking pot or whatever.

Thanks, much appreciated.

I will give the school credit in that there was a much bigger push toward student responsibility and accountability with partying on campus. Events like Seize the Quad were allowed with mostly student regulation, if there were problems then the events would go away. Does Seize the Quad still happen? The problem is events like that can't happen every weekend.

This thread has taken a turn into a fraternity/social/partying discussion, which has been solid. I think part of the problem students have is they (or their parents) are paying all this tuition, but they haven't seen any upgrades or additions to campus that benefit them. Sure, South Hall is great but 200 freshman live there. The new admissions center looks awesome, but that's for administrative purposes. The two additions to campus when I was there that was a true benefit to students were the library renovation that upgraded the 24 hr rooms and added a Starbucks and the Shorty's renovation which created a great space for students; however, they f-ed up the food court area of Benson and took out so much seating/made it look like an airport.

Meanwhile you have a jam packed cafeteria (this is from the article/hear say from others I haven't been in the Pit recently), old as hell classrooms in Tribble, a TINY gym in the Miller center -forcing a lot of students to join gyms off campus rather than wait forever for equipment, an ancient Reynolds gym, a waterlogged intramural field, a serious lack of parking - either limit passes or build more parking, etc. etc.

I realize all this stuff takes money and Wake doesn't have it, I get that. But, students are going to complain when they see a brand new freshman dorm and a shiny new admissions building while they have 10 treadmills for the entire campus.

 

[TownieDeac]

I realize all this stuff takes money and Wake doesn't have it, I get that. But, students are going to complain when they see a brand new freshman dorm and a shiny new admissions building while they have 10 treadmills for the entire campus.

excellent point

 

[wfudkn]

What is this Seize the Quad?

 

[bigdoublezero]

If the administration is going to make a choice between worrying about future students and worrying about current students, they're going to pick future students every time.

Maybe decades from now if all their big plans work out, they'll have the luxury of really engaging the current students and figuring out to deal with their gripes in a timely manner. But for now, gripes get solved for the future Deacs.

:shrug

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

There was some discussion about the three-year residency requirement. Currently, we do not have the facilities to institute this kind of policy, but I believe 3 years from now when the incoming class are juniors it will be feasible. There are plans to renovate the Quad the buildings, and build a new Residence Hall between Polo and Wait Chapel. I haven't heard much about either projects in a couple months, so perhaps someone can enlighten us more.

As for the reasoning behind the change, Anonymous has pointed to some of the potential outcomes as they relate to alcohol use, but in my mind the primary reason is to foster academic success. There are numerous studies that correlate residential living to academic success and student persistence at colleges and universities. I imagine raising the level of academic discourse, while also keeping students at Wake for the entirety of their education are major influences to the decision. This improves Wake's reputation, their rankings, and ultimately it ensures Wake Forest is making more money both in tuition dollars and housing costs.

 

[TexasDeac10]

The whole lack of proper workout equipment is pretty incredible. Students have been asking for the same thing for a decade, and nothing's ever changed.