Omega lacks remorse
Last week’s front-page article entitled “’Out of control’ party forces changing alcohol attitudes” takes a tone that seems inconsistent with the reality of life on this campus. Furthermore, there is much about the incident in question that begs further explanation and exploration.
Starting from the beginning, Omega Vice President Andrew Holmes’ elaboration of the party is shaky at best. His description — a “traditional” party which ended up getting “out of hand” — is reminiscent of Dr. Evil using his fingers to air-quote every other term in a given explanation. I haven’t attended a party hosted by the Omegas in years, so I can’t speak for the regular tone of their events on a week-by-week basis. Having said that, we live on a campus where it is against college policy to use or possess a beer bong; even if no one had been sent to the Wellness Center or hospital, the mere possession of an ice luge should carry with it major judicial sanctions.
I also had a pretty big problem with the Omegas’ plea of ignorance to the event being on a rush night. Having been involved with the judicial system as a former underage drinker, I know how much the school likes to say that ignorance of a rule is no excuse. The fact that the rush chair “failed to go to the meeting [when rush dates were assigned]” should have caused the Omegas to make sure everyone was on the same page when it came to the rushes. The article says “many Omegas thought that Nov. 9 was a rush-free night,” meaning not ALL of the Omegas thought that. This means that the occurrence of that party constitutes a systematic failure on the part of Omega’s leadership to uphold the rules of Greek events.
In the article, Holmes was quoted as saying, “Everybody drinks, and people are happy to put the bad on the Greeks,” which echoes a complaint that the Greeks have voiced for years. However, not all groups are equal when it comes to partying, it seems. If my friends in Avery House last year or those in Kate House the year before last had thrown a party with an ice luge and caused multiple trips to the hospital, does anyone believe they’d have been able to keep the house? The Omegas host a party that leads to multiple cases of alcohol poisoning, and they “put themselves on their own probation.” I was seen carrying a six-pack to my room when I was 20 years old, and I had to see a substance abuse counselor. How does that work?
The negativity that everyone associates with the Greeks isn’t about the drinking or the partying; the negativity comes from the culture of pressuring rushes to binge drink and degrading someone if they can’t keep up with the pace of a party. The negativity comes from blatant hazing rituals to which the administration is somehow ignorant. Most of all, the negativity comes from Greeks being no different from any other social circle yet receiving treatment from the school of which other groups wouldn’t even dare dream.
Eric Batke is a Senior Staff Writer for the Voice and can be reached for comment at EBatke12@wooster.edu.