Four years ago, a 1994 College graduate by the name of Michael Tobin died after a night of excessive drinking and partying at his old fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta.
That death sparked a now-legendary protest on College Green, a temporary ban on alcohol and, eventually, the first incarnation of the University's new alcohol policy.
The changes in policy brought about by Tobin's death were supposed to change the very character of this campus, most importantly in the role alcohol played on campus.
But in light of the revelation that the Sigma Delta Tau sorority violated a whole host of University policies and state laws, the result of which was four underage students needing hospital treatment for alcohol poisoning, it seems that the lessons of Tobin's death have failed to make responsible drinking a reality on this campus.
To be fair, this is not entirely a Greek problem. The alcohol initiatives put into place after Tobin's death have not altered to a substantial extent the behavior of Greek and non-Greek students alike.
And the actions of one high-profile house cannot be used to indict every other Greek organization on campus. There are a number of houses on this campus that do not engage in the kind of reckless behavior described in the SDT report. Just last week, the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity was cleared of charges that it had violated the University's alcohol and rush policies.
Personal responsibility certainly plays an important role in any discussion of underage drinking, but to blame it entirely ignores the fact that, at the very least, some organizations on this campus -- including, but certainly not limited to, a number of Greek houses -- do perpetuate a culture of irresponsibility with alcohol.
Other universities, most notably Dartmouth College, have made radical changes to their Greek systems -- including ending freshman rush, among other major alterations -- all but killing a system once far more powerful than Penn's.
And while at this time, such a solution may be too extreme, surely it is time that the University evaluated Greek life in an effort to prevent incidents like the one at SDT, or Tobin's death, for that matter. Certainly this would be only one step toward changing campus culture, but at least it is a start.
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