Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Miami University: Is Anyone Really Surprised?

This is the post that may finally get me kicked off the blog.

Today comes word that the Miami chapter of Alpha Xi Delta may be suspended for bad behavior at an off-campus party. Earlier this week, the university announced the suspension of Pi Beta Phi for similarly drunken and boorish behavior.

And all of this comes on the heels of revelations that MU's most famous alumnus, Ben Roethlisberger, behaves like an entitled, inebriated frat boy on such a regular basis that some have begun to suggest that brain damage is to blame.

In a letter regarding the most recent sorority incident, MU President David Hodge writes that "the actions of these students are contrary to the values of Miami University." My question: how many people agree with him?

Most people who didn't attend MU perceive it as a place for spoiled rich kids who, not having the grades or connections to get into a better school, have found a quiet corner of Ohio in which to drink away their parents' money. MU students have set fires to so many couches that Oxford has a law banning anyone from having upholstered furniture on a porch. MU students, so disappointed that the scheduling of spring break would deprive them of the communal drinking opportunity posed by St. Patrick's Day, created Green Beer Day, devoted to nothing but drunken revelry.

President Hodge seems to fear that the recent bad conduct of two MU sororities will give the university a bad reputation. He's wrong. Stories about drunken, misbehaved MU students don't alter people's feelings towards MU; they reinforce them. And that's the real problem that Hodge must face, if he's serious about protecting the "values of Miami University."

UPDATE: Deadspin has more details on the Pi Beta Phi misbehavior. (Hat tip: Scott Sloan.)

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