Spring quarter at Stanford is undoubtedly the best reason for being at this school. The weather is great, the quarter is short, people take light course loads, there are a plethora of social functions, and to start it all off with a bang is Greek Rush. Both sororities and fraternities have rush over the course of the first three weeks of spring quarter, bringing excitement and energy to all those involved in the Greek system and its prospective members. However, the turnout for rush events this year was significantly down from last year. IFC figures put the approximate number of freshman rushing fraternities as down 25% from last spring – an unusually large variation.

The fraternities have been doing the same thing this year as they do every year, but the turnout is down. What then is the cause of this decreased interest? It seems to be the continuation of a recent trend of social degradation on this campus. It almost seems as if every time I pick up an issue of The Daily another organization has been placed on alcohol probation. From the Stanford Band’s ridiculous three-year probation to Delta Delta Delta’s that will last until 2006, it appears that university officials have gone “probation crazy”. For those of you who were here last year, you may remember that most of the housed fraternities were on probation at some point during the year.

Of course, one cannot analyze the recent drop-off in sociability of this campus without mentioning the new alcohol policy that prohibits freshman dorms from throwing wet parties. It used to be that every weekend there would be several parties each night, with a freshman dorm such as Otero, Cedro, or Branner hosting at least one of them. Now, however, fraternities host nearly all the parties, and since most fraternities are already having all the parties they can afford and fit into their schedules, the net result is a substantial drop-off in the number of parties in general. In addition, this policy combination creates larger crowds at the parties that do occur, leading to greater liability and risk concerns for fraternities. It almost seems as if the university had this in mind when devising their new alcohol policy. To add insult to injury, the “deadline” for ending parties is earlier every year. Two years ago, parties regularly went on until 3 or 4 AM, but newly enforced “noise ordinances” require that they end at 1.

As mentioned two issues ago in Evan Raff’s article on social ineptitude, one possible solution to the problem would simply be to institute an interview in the admissions process. This would, in theory, weed out the applicants who are socially inept and thus leave a bad impression on the interviewers. However, for this idea to work, the interviewer would have to be looking for sociable people, and if the university is in fact trying to repress the social atmosphere of the campus, it would obviously not encourage positive evaluations of anyone who advertised even a remote interest in alcohol consumption. Even the police officers lament the current situation. Upon asking one officer who wished to remain anonymous what he thought of the recent crackdown, he replied, “It was much better in the past. I enjoying seeing you guys have fun, and I hate having to be so tough on you all.”

It is no wonder rush is down from previous years. The campus in general has become lamer and less interesting. With fewer parties happening, freshmen are exposed to less people, don’t come out of their shells as much, and tend to be less social in general. All of these factors lead to a smaller group of freshman guys who are actually interested in becoming part of the Greek system at Stanford, which is quickly becoming the last bastion of social activity on this campus. It is obvious to everyone what is happening, yet the student body has done nothing to correct the changes being made. You have a voice, and I encourage you all to speak out. I put it you to, Stanford University, as we spend this spring quarter together, be proud of who you are! Protest something that directly affects you. In a show of student solidarity, throw a kegger in White Plaza and protest the social oppression that is rampant at this university! We need to send a strong message to the powers that be and end this downward trend once and for all.