University of Virginia Library

Bloated On Beer

The second
inference—"having
fun"–depends of course on
your definition of the word
"fun." If it's getting bloated on
beer, getting blasted by some
over-amplified rock group, and
getting thrown in a mudpile
during IFC weekend, then
that's your hangup. I can only
hope you outgrow it someday.

Having "Fun:" A Lifestyle That Is A Foregone Conclusion

The third–"getting laid"–is
a little harder to rebut, because
it is a perversion of a genuine
human need for sex, and, even
more, for affection. When said
in any other way than sort of
tongue-in cheek, it means using
a girl or a woman as an object
for physical needs, as a way to
smother your fears.
"Meaningful relationship" may
be a cliche, but sincere contact
is not.

This syndrome is a holdover
from the days when the
University was all-male, and a
"date" was an expensive
weekend. Fortunately,
co-education has shown that
you don't have to engage in
tribal rites like "going down
the road" to meet a woman.

And, even more, it has
shown that women are not
some type of foreign animal to
be shipped in and out when the
need arises, but individuals
with needs.

-FRATERNITIES DO
GOOD DEEDS. Fine. If you
want to join a fraternity
because of the charity drives it
gives, then your motives are
way ahead of your experience.

-FRATERNITIES ARE
PART OF THE UNIVERSITY.
Okay. But so are Food
Services, Wahoo-wah, and D.
Alan Williams. Which doesn't
mean you have to like them.

-FRATERNITIES ARE
CHANGING. This is like asking
you to join the Army because
it's changing: it admits
something is wrong without
tracing the causes. Even in new
and hipper uniforms,
fraternities fight the same old
battles against individual
development.