<p>Lehigh is good for my kiddo in several ways, esp. size, eastern Pa., and science and business focus.</p>
<p>Its enduring reputation as a drinking and party school bothers me, however.</p>
<p>I would like to hear from recent grads and parents with kids or kids' friends who go to Lehigh. I would like to hear the truth about the dominant culture - not about the kids who somehow manage in spite of a bad situation. Would like to hear about non-frat kids, and kids who belong to "loser" frats. Seems like a small group of self-anointed cool kids reign supreme - seems a lot like high school.</p>
<p>Also, would like to hear about why the administration has allowed this culture to persist for decades.</p>
<p>Probably for the same reason other administrations have. They know college kids are going to party and have found that driving it underground is more dangerous.</p>
<p>One of my buddies at work goes to Lehigh. He is a major drinker and smoker. He is very smart but I don’t even know how he is passing his classes.</p>
<p>I’m not a Lehigh alum but have known several quality individuals who have graduated from there. They don’t strike me as hard-partying idiots at all, and they all liked their time there (they are quite different from each other in personality and interests). They are all bright, successful adults.</p>
<p>One of my best friends graduated from Lehigh with M.E. degree. I actually lived in an apartment off campus with two very straight and narrow students who would go home on the weekends while my friends and I “partied”. I think Lehigh is like most schools, but does have a work hard party hard reputation that some like to buy into and promote. My friend turned out Ok is a successful business owner and I still have quite a few synapses left myself!</p>
<p>As opposed to doing what? Cracking down on partying? It’s already illegal to drink if you’re under 21, yet 58% of the underage college students in the U.S. say they have been drinking in the past month. Telling the Greeks that they’re no longer recognized? You can take the organizational name off the database in the Student Activities office, but the same students who had the party scheduled for next Saturday night will still be holding that party. US News ranks Lehigh among the top 40 universities in the country, despite an economically-depressed location that could pose a threat to its market viability.</p>
<p>The preppy partiers attract other preppy partiers, and so the campus culture perpetuates itself. But Lehigh has a viable market niche among very capable students that works well for the university.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>IIUC they HAVE cracked down to some degree - there was some issue with some Greek houses closing, but I don’t recall all the details. They also now have a substance free dorm.</p></li>
<li><p>Its not enough to just say drinking happens at all colleges. It clearly is more central to the culture at some than at others</p></li>
<li><p>That said, Lehigh manages to attract and retain some very bright, high achieving students. Whether they are entirely satisfied with their current niche is not 100% clear to me. </p></li>
<li><p>When we there they went to some length to indicate A. The partying is mainly on weekends and B. You arent pressured to drink, and there are other things to do</p></li>
<li><p>My DD “okay, I won’t have to drink, but will I have to rescue drunken roommates?”</p></li>
<li><p>I have gotten mixed word on the attitude toward the substance free dorm</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We determined that between Hillel and South Mountain College (the tiny “LAC within Lehigh”) DD could find a social base closer to her style. Had EVERYTHING leaned towards Lehigh, we would still have sent her, with fingers crossed. However the atmosphere was ONE mark against Lehigh for us. When it turned out that other factors also leaned toward RPI, this was one factor confirming the choice.</p>
<p>“It’s already illegal to drink if you’re under 21, yet 58% of the underage college students in the U.S. say they have been drinking in the past month. Telling the Greeks that they’re no longer recognized?”</p>
<p>when i was in college, back when it was legal, I probably had a drink in most months. A drink. Or two. Or even a few more. I never had the quantity of alcohol its apparently routine to consume in one night in some of these parties.</p>
<p>As a matter of policy I would rather that the drinking age were 21, but that young people managed to drink with dignity (no, not just “responsibly” - its not just automotive safety that is at issues) I suppose it could be answered that drunkenness too is part of university culture going back hundreds of years - I think we may have cultural differences here. </p>
<p>Also, as the parent of a female, I am concerned about the interpersonal things that go on in an atmosphere of excessive alcohol consumption.</p>
<p>I don’t have personal experience with Lehigh, so I won’t comment on that. But I have to respond to some comments on drinking culture in general. The idea that there is drinking on every campus is true, but there is no doubt that the campus drinking cultures can differ. My D started at a school with a rep for hard partying/drinking, despite also a strong academic side. She was truly miserable, and her misery did include the drunken roomie suggested above. She transfered to another school with an entirely different drinking culture and was much, much happier. So all schools are not the same; it can be a valid concern, depending on student and school.</p>
<p>Also, schools which have to address the issue and stress what they’re doing about it raise a red flag for me. D’s first school emphasized strongly how tough they are on drinking. SEcond school never mentioned it. In retrospect, discussing the problem happens just *because *it has become a problem.</p>
<p>Again, these comments are in no way Lehigh-specific, but I do think a student with concerns should be careful about the issue and investigate thoroughly.</p>
<p>my experience there +15 years ago- it’s definitely a vibrant social scene, but most LU students seem to have grown up in corporate/professional households and have a pretty clear understanding on what it takes to institute and sustain a career. they see college as a special interlude in life, take full advantage of it academically and socially and when iit’s time to move on, they do. the alumni, while not famous, are accomplished and provide phenomenal financial support to the school. I don’t think there’s many LU grads among society’s down-and-outs.</p>
<p>Lee Iacocca is pretty famous. In northern NJ Lehigh had a very good rep for engineering. I think smog has the picture correct. Smart kids with a future enjoying the college experience in all ways. Probably not for the quiet searcher type. Most LU kids have a plan.</p>
<p>I live about ten minutes from Lehigh and know current students, graduates, and staff. It has a reputation as a work hard, play hard school. That said, I know students that do not drink, find their people there and get a great education.</p>
<p>My comment is not Lehigh specific either, but based on the observation of working with high school students for over a decade; today’s students are, in general, less mature when they go off to college. I suspect that as the years go by, colleges will find that they need to step in and ‘parent’ in various ways and to varying degrees to compensate for this but, in the short term, I wouldn’t count on a history of ‘hard partying but functional’ to necessarily be predictive of the outcome for today’s college freshman. </p>
<p>A few years ago I attended an educational presentation regarding how the rest of the world would need to adapt to the needs of the incoming workforce: their need for praise and validation, their desire to express themselves through non-conforming dress and style elements, their desire for flexible work schedules etc. (yes, the educational powers that be actually paid someone to travel around the country giving seminars on this). Since the economic downturn, the only kids I know who have jobs in high school are the mature and responsible ones who aren’t expecting the world to adapt to their personal preferences. </p>
<p>If college is increasingly out of financial reach, perhaps a new level of expectation will be placed on future students to remember (on a day to day basis) that they are not matriculating to a dorm/frat/sorority party - it is a school. Until that time, I would carefully explore the social climate of the colleges your child applies to in terms of today’s students -not the collective strenths of Lee Iococa’s generation.</p>