There is nothing like a good "DePauwty" to complete your weekend, but a couple of weekends ago I experienced my first weekend on another school's campus.
My friends and I headed over to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to watch DePauw's first football game, where I was surprised to see many students wearing "DePauw Sucks" shirts. They quickly learned how false that was when the Tigers beat the Fightin' Engineers 23-13. Despite the negativity, my friends decided to stay at Rose-Hulman to celebrate, curious to see if they could show us a good time.
At first, Rose-Hulman's culture seemed worlds apart from our own, mostly because of the ratio of men to women. Before we arrived, we were told it was about six men to one woman. But once we arrived we learned the ratio was in fact 11:1. At first I didn't think that was a huge deal. All-male schools like Wabash completely lack female company, so I assumed the environment was similar at Rose-Hulman.
I was mistaken and found it hilarious when the men on campus were in awe at our presence, even in upperclassman dorms. They way the men at Rose-Hulman treated women made me think some guys on our campus think women are expendable and take each casual encounters for granted.
As the night wore on we ended up walking a mile off campus — a trudge that made me so thankful we have Safe Ride — to attend a foam party at one of the fraternities. Once we got there we were redirected from the actual house to the "party house," a separate building where they host their parties.
It was clear once we got to the door that there was an actively enforced drinking policy. I had to show my license and wear a white wristband that indicated I was under 21. This was quite a change from the complete lack of enforcement I've grown accustomed to seeing. If DePauw ever had a policy like that would students even bother going out?
I didn't take the party seriously until we went inside the black-lighted party house that was bubbling with foam. I had a great time, and by the end of the night the only major difference between DePauw and Rose-Hulman at the actual party was the party etiquette people displayed. No one was rudely shoving or pushing me and everyone said excuse me. The dance floors at DePauw fraternities have gotten hostile, so I found Rose-Hulman very refreshing.
I enjoyed going to Rose-Hulman and experiencing a different school's way of life. It is a misconception that you need to be out of control, getting drunk or hooking up to have a good time. There is no point in being rude to fellow party goers when everyone is there to feel good and have fun. I will always appreciate the fun I have at DePauw, but my time at Rose-Hulman brought to light some courtesies DePauw is missing.
— Britigan is a sophomore from Parchent, Mich. with an undeclared major. opinion@thedepauw.com