If anybody knows how to have a good time and appreciate a party, it is the students here at DePauw.
So much so that traditional social rules are more lenient and it doesn't matter where the party is or who is invited.
Everyone feels welcome.
It's the first week of school. New students are curious about what goes on around campus and want to awaken their inner party animals, while returning students are curious about the new ones.
The other weekend, I was ready to go out to the fraternity houses and have some fun. But it seemed that at every house I arrived, the men of that fraternity were leaving to crash the freshman luau.
According to them, once everybody had gotten their "buzz on" they at least wanted to go and check out the dance.
I followed the majority of the crowd and went to the luau myself. I realized when I arrived that there were more people in attendance who I knew than people I didn't.
It seemed the majority of people at the luau, the intended purpose of which is to provide freshmen the opportunity to bond with each other, were upperclassmen.
I didn't go to the 80s dance last Saturday, but I've heard similar stories. As the night went on, drunk upperclassmen were more likely to be found than freshmen, even though their attendance was not encouraged.
Now, I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing. Everyone tends to go to the big parties and that proves how social we are on this campus — a characteristic which I find charming. I just don't know if it's necessary to crash the events meant specifically for freshmen.
A bunch of intoxicated upperclassmen can be intimidating to some freshmen, especially those who are trying to make an effort to bond with their own class.
For others, it's encouraging younger students to go to fraternities weeks before they are permitted that privilege.
When I have gone out to fraternities recently, I have seen freshmen at parties.
This bothers me. Why is there a rule against freshmen's presence on greek property right away if the freshmen break it and not all upperclassmen respect it enough to enforce the rules themselves?
It reminds me of this summer, when my friends back home wanted to go out to a bar or club during the weekend. We weren't sure if we were allowed to enter past 9:00 p.m. as under 21-year-olds, so we called to check.
The responses we received, such as "we might kick you out," are so vague that we wondered why the age limit existed.
While it is a great thing to welcome the freshmen to campus and show them DePauw students know how to have a good time, we as upperclassmen and leaders should respect the rules that have been set.
Like my friends and me this summer, freshmen shouldn't have to wonder why unenforced policies exist. These rules were set for a reason, and now it's our responsibility to enforce them.
— Britigan is a sophomore from Parchent, Mich. with an undeclared major.
opinion@thedepauw.com