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Hoppy’s Commentary for Thursday

“There is a little-known codicil in the Faber College constitution which gives the dean unlimited power to preserve order in time of campus emergency.” Dean Vernon Wormer from Animal House.

Granted, it’s not quite that bad at WVU, but the University, once again, finds itself fighting off the Animal House image. 

Last Saturday, a nexus of unseasonably warm weather and St. Patrick’s Day fueled the party atmosphere on and near the WVU campus.  By evening, some of the partiers were out of control; drunks set three dozen mostly street and dumpster fires, some threw objects at police officers or their vehicles

The excess put a strain on town-gown relations. 

“I’m so angry right now,” said Morgantown Deputy Mayor Ron Bane during Tuesday night’s city council meeting.  “(Students) need to realize that this is not a playground, this is our home,” Bane said.

Even as council was meeting, a graphic video of the parties hit the Internet and within minutes was trending on Twitter.  The video was produced by "I’m Shmacked," a private film company that travels from campus to campus, shooting video of partying students, putting the video to music and posting on the Internet.

The scenes in the video are embarrassing, but not much worse than you see on many college campuses. In fact, all the videos by "I’m Shmacked," shot at Syracuse, New York University, Michigan and other campuses, are remarkably similar.

West Virginia University has been, and continues to be a school where partying plays a prominent role in campus social life.  One of the differences now is that the asinine behavior is video taped and spreads virally even before the fog of the hangover has lifted.l

If an emancipated college student wants to drink himself/herself into oblivion, but otherwise stay out of trouble, there’s not much WVU can do about that.  However, when the behavior crosses the line with drunk driving, public intoxication, destruction of property, setting fires, throwing bottles at the cops, or interfering with the police, then WVU has an obligation to act.

WVU Vice President for Student Affairs, Ken Gray, promises the University will crack down.  “We’re going to take pro-active action to punish those responsible,” said Gray of Saturday’s hooliganism.  That punishment, Gray said, may include expulsion from the University. 

West Virginia University is a remarkably open and tolerant institution.  The campus welcomes all West Virginia high school graduates and opens its doors to out-of-state students who don’t have the grades or the means to get into other schools.

I’ve always believed that’s one of the most important attributes of WVU.  This University tries hard to say “yes” to students who say they want a college education. Sure, some of that is just good business, but it’s also part of the University’s mission.

Coincidentally, this week Nobel Prize winning physicist John Mather came to campus for a lecture and InterContinental Hotels executive Lara Hernandez, who is also a WVU graduate, is a guest speaker on campus today. 

Just like any major University, WVU is loaded with opportunities for students who want to take advantage of them.  But the miscreants, who believe that their college experience is a chance to run wild without consequences, don’t belong here.

WVU doesn’t need Faber College’s “little known codicil” to keep order; it already has the authority in the student code of conduct to discipline students for bad behavior and send the worst of the lot packing.    

 

 

 

 

 





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