To prospective Lehigh students/applicants

Colleges and Universities A-Z Lehigh University
1

This is addressed to students who have been admitted and are thinking of attending as well as prospective applicants. More specifically, this is pointed towards those who are attracted to Lehigh because it is a “party school.” As a current member of the Lehigh community, I felt that my opinions, which are shared by an increasing number of students here, may be useful to some prospective students. While I am thankful everyday for the top tier education I receive here, recent policies enacted by the Lehigh administration have pitted much of the student body against their own school.

I’m sure most of you know of Lehigh’s reputation as a party school. In fact, for a considerable number of students here, that is what attracted them to Lehigh in the first place. As i’m sure most of you also know, greek life is huge here (about 45-50% of the student body) and dominates the party scene. However, it is important to note that, because of Lehigh’s social policy, fraternities cannot have parties in their houses, forcing them to throw parties in off campus houses. This is important for 2 reasons. One, it moves the majority of social life away from campus and into the local community. Two, it allows parties that have no regulation in number of people, amount of alcohol, or type of alcohol. These two factors lead to many students drinking irresponsibly and, as a result, a good number of alcohol hospitalizations occurring.

Just a year ago, the school experimented with allowing parties in fraternity houses, as long as they weren’t allowed kegs or any hard alcohol. The parties were a huge success, and as far as I know, there were no hospitalizations caused by alcohol. This year, however, the school has done a 180 switch. Several greek houses have been punished for having alcohol in their chapter house, an environment that is much safer and more regulated than the dozens of off campus parties the university turns a blind eye to every weekend. Numerous greek houses have been randomly entered by cops who are looking for anything and everything they can to punish people with. Recently, the president of the university released a statement notifying students there would be increased police presence off campus, in an effort to stop dangerous underage drinking. Increasing police presence only leads to more arrests and more aggravated students. This in no way addresses the underlying problems causing a dangerous drinking culture at Lehigh.

For most students at Lehigh, especially those in greek life, the underlying problem is clear–Lehigh’s social policy. The school’s social policy is giving students no other choice but to party irresponsibly in irresponsible settings. They are asking a bunch of 20 year olds to make responsible decisions with alcohol, but the reality is that not everyone can do that, especially when the school’s policies lead to more parties in unregulated settings (off campus). For myself and many of my peers, the faults and negative effects of the school’s social policy are so clear that we are dumbfounded as to why Lehigh has taken these recent actions.

Is Lehigh trying to phase out greek life as some universities have recently done? If so, they are pitting themselves against 50% of their student body, and a considerable number of prospective students and alumni ($$). Is Lehigh trying to get ride of its “party school” reputation? If so, they are not tackling the true underlying problems, and they are once again pitting themselves against a large number of applicants. Is Lehigh simply trying to reduce the number of alcohol hospitalizations, as said in President Simon’s statement? If so, they are going about it in all the wrong ways and once again not addressing the true underlying problems.

For those of you who may be interested in Lehigh because of its party reputation: you may want to think twice. I love Lehigh for the people I have met here, the professors who have taught me, and the organizations that I am a part of; however, I do not love Lehigh as an institution. Sadly, I have watched over the past two years as an increasing number of students have taken this same stance. The university has repeatedly antagonized so much of its student body instead of working together with them to find a viable solution. Again, none of this is said to detract from the quality of education here at Lehigh (which is undoubtedly among the best); however, I thought this information would be helpful to some applicants–I know it would’ve been helpful to me when I was applying.

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Buyer beware if you are thinking about Lehigh. The partying scene is out of control. The surrounding town is very dangerous. They do not have 150 clubs to join and Lehigh After Dark is a joke. If you have been accepted make sure you join the Lehigh University Parents and Families Facebook group and hear all about it.

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@jay2243 is warning potential students that the administration is cracking down too hard on parties.
@lehighsucks is warning potential students that the administration does not crack down enough.

The situation at Lehigh
In the first few months of 2017 alone, students from Miami University of Ohio, University of Illinois, Binghamton University and Penn State were lost in alcohol-related deaths. Additionally, Lehigh has experienced students going to the hospital with alcohol poisoning. These incidents have raised concerns, and Lehigh’s President Simon and his administration are taking proactive steps make sure that Lehigh students are safe BEFORE something terrible happens. They are communicating clearly with students and parents, beefing up police presence on campus, and generally working to maintain a safe and healthy campus environment.

As you can see from the posts above, the university actions do not make everyone happy. Some people would prefer that the university allow students do be adults and do whatever they wish. That would not be a responsible approach. Other people view any underage drinking as “out of control,” and want a very hardline stance on drinking. That will only drive the students further underground, in the long run, which is why colleges do not take this approach. The administration is doing its best to address the situation with a firm, but measured response in an attempt to ensure student safety for the final few weeks of the school year.

If any admitted student or parents have questions or concerns about what is being done, I would point out that the post above is not entirely accurate, and I would strongly encourage you to talk with the administrators at Lehigh. Express you concerns, and ask them all of the questions that are on your mind. I think you will be impressed with thoughtfulness of the administration, and the proactive actions they are taking to ensure student safety.

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@“Greenwood Hall” also had some negative things to say about social justice warriors at Lehigh. Wonder if all these posts are related some how

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S1 would automatically cross a school like Lehigh off his list. He is social, but has no interest in going to a place where drinking and drugging oneself into a stupor passes as " partying".

Sounds like Lehigh admin is in a spot where it is not only an ethical must to crack down on substance use on campus, but sound business policy, unless they plan on billing themselves as, " The University To Come To If You Want To Get Shitfaced".

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I don’t think I made this point very clear in my original post: I do think the drinking culture at Lehigh has gotten out of control. I don’t want to see any fellow student become a statistic because they drank too much at a party, and I’m sure every other student agrees. What I do want to make clear is that the administration is not taking the correct or responsible approach towards the issue. They have responded by increasing police presence, leading to a huge increase in arrests, even among students who are drinking responsibly. Getting arrested rarely changes student’s drinking habits. What it does do it pit students against the university police and the administration. If Lehigh wanted to change the drinking culture they should move parties back on campus where they can regulate they type of alcohol being served and control under aged drinking without having to make arrests.

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As I recall from when I attended in the late '60’s and early '70’s, the center of partying was still on the hill at the
houses themselves. South Bethlehem was a derelict place in the shadow of the still active blast furnaces - there wasn’t much of anything there.

Do any here know when, and most importantly why, things moved into town from the hill?

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Well, I did some digging and found this excellent article written a couple of years ago by alum Michael Smerconish (now on CNN). What he wrote seems to fit with what I remember although I was there a decade or so earlier.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/feb/18/modern-drinking-policies-on-college-camp/?print

My take:

  1. It's a common issue at many if not most colleges and universities. Lehigh is not much different than others.
  2. The administration is damned if they do and damned if they don't.

That said, it does seem wiser to keep things on campus where things can be more closely “controlled”.

Finally…it’s really up to the individual…if you insist on doing stupid things, there’s a good chance you’ll pay a high price. All on you.

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@sonofAsa1
"2. The administration is damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

That said, it does seem wiser to keep things on campus where things can be more closely “controlled”."

This is the problem. You are right that the wiser thing to do is to keep the student drinking on campus where it can be overseen by managed. Unfortunately, schools can’t oversee underage drinking, because it is illegal.

Lowering the drinking age solves this problem, but creates others. To me, a potential solution could be a drinking age exception for college students attending events overseen by the school they attend. This could allow schools to host and oversee events on campus, and improve safety while following the law.