Guilt by association?
By no means am I a huge defender of fraternities. Despite having several good friends who were members of fraternities in college, it was something that wasn't for me as I simply didn't get along with the vast majority of folks who joined them.
But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm completely on board with the Athens Banner-Herald's recent editorial proposal to ban the SAE fraternity from the University of Georgia campus ... nor does it mean that I'm not open to some sort of sanctions or penalties against SAE for the actions stemming from the death of Lewis Fish last week.
As you may recall, Fish died after a night of partying which featured him consuming lethal amounts of alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Fish's friends, most of whom are now in police custody for a variety of charges ranging from underage drinking to drug possession, have all said they spent part of their night at a party at the SAE house.
The Banner-Herald said the fraternity should be booted from campus, primarily because the national organization's investigation would probably lag and turn up, more than likely, favorable findings toward the UGA chapter even if some blame was to go around. They raised the analogy of the Georgia football team, pointing out how quickly the school would react if a similar event with that team.
Yes and no.
Personally, I don't think the fraternity should be booted from campus. I base this on the fact that - to date - there is no evidence linking the distribution of drugs to any sanctioned event at the SAE house, nor is there any indication that current members and/or officers of the fraternity encouraged or forced Fish and his friends to take said drugs.
However, the paper is right in one regard, they just selected a poor analogy to illustrate it. There is precedent at the University to punish an entire organization for the actions of a few. The men's basketball team had its season abruptly ended because of a handful of members who participated in what amounted a fake class designed to boost their grades, thus keeping them on the court. It was never proven that the entire team was guilty of the offense, but nonetheless UGA took action against the entire program to set an example.
I do think the fraternity should face some sort of sanctions, however. Perhaps limiting the number of on-campus parties they can hold or restricting the number of individuals who can live in the fraternity house. Still, until definitive evidence can be produced to show this was a more widespread problem in that particular fraternity, removing them from campus because of the tragic and unfortunate actions of a few seems a little extreme to me.
But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm completely on board with the Athens Banner-Herald's recent editorial proposal to ban the SAE fraternity from the University of Georgia campus ... nor does it mean that I'm not open to some sort of sanctions or penalties against SAE for the actions stemming from the death of Lewis Fish last week.
As you may recall, Fish died after a night of partying which featured him consuming lethal amounts of alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Fish's friends, most of whom are now in police custody for a variety of charges ranging from underage drinking to drug possession, have all said they spent part of their night at a party at the SAE house.
The Banner-Herald said the fraternity should be booted from campus, primarily because the national organization's investigation would probably lag and turn up, more than likely, favorable findings toward the UGA chapter even if some blame was to go around. They raised the analogy of the Georgia football team, pointing out how quickly the school would react if a similar event with that team.
Yes and no.
Personally, I don't think the fraternity should be booted from campus. I base this on the fact that - to date - there is no evidence linking the distribution of drugs to any sanctioned event at the SAE house, nor is there any indication that current members and/or officers of the fraternity encouraged or forced Fish and his friends to take said drugs.
However, the paper is right in one regard, they just selected a poor analogy to illustrate it. There is precedent at the University to punish an entire organization for the actions of a few. The men's basketball team had its season abruptly ended because of a handful of members who participated in what amounted a fake class designed to boost their grades, thus keeping them on the court. It was never proven that the entire team was guilty of the offense, but nonetheless UGA took action against the entire program to set an example.
I do think the fraternity should face some sort of sanctions, however. Perhaps limiting the number of on-campus parties they can hold or restricting the number of individuals who can live in the fraternity house. Still, until definitive evidence can be produced to show this was a more widespread problem in that particular fraternity, removing them from campus because of the tragic and unfortunate actions of a few seems a little extreme to me.
posted by Jmac at 6:54 AM
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