Oxford, Ohio reins in Boulder, Colorado

The University of Colorado's Phi Kappa Tau fraternity has been suspended by its national fraternity for alcohol problems. In itself, that isn't really so unusual. More notable, although not unusual either, is the fact that the national fraternity is based in my home town of Oxford, Ohio, the home of Miami University, which is home to more alpha chapters of Greek organizations than any other in the country. Certainly, this time, the folks in my home town have made the right call, although there is some irony in the fact that rulings from a thousand miles away tend to have more impact on fraternity behavior than pronouncement from local governmental, university and interfraternity council officials.

Something is rotten in Boulder, and at the moment that is a bunch of alcohol soaked fraternities and sororities. While part of the fault lies with unrealistic laws banning alcohol use by those under age twenty-one, since underaged drinkers who are already breaking the law while engaged in the itself unharmful conduct of drinking, are less likely to obey more reasonable laws aimed at harmful drunken behavior, it isn't as if this is a problem new to these organizations.

A while back a columnist asked why the Greeks were being singled out by CU for less favorable treatment than other student organizations like the Young Communist League. Well, when the Young Communist League routinely has members who drink themselves to death or near death, and routinely has events that put college women in dire risk of being raped, something that often enough does happen, then I will back CU in banning them as well.