AS THE new school year approaches we begin to build expectations for the future, and build on experiences of the past. To determine what to expect, we can review some of the highlights of recent happenings that shaped the University.
In the 1998-99 school year, fraternity-sorority formal rush for first year students was moved to the spring. This was an effort to make an arrangement appeasing the administration demanding reform, and students demanding to keep kegs at fraternity parties. Later that year, in world news, impeachment proceedings heated up in the U.S. Senate, and the dubious President Clinton launched missiles to secure the pressing national security threat of the menacing Sadaam Hussein.
The next year of 1999-2000 saw the University building of an impressive addition to Scott Stadium, adding another byline to the complex at which our football team rose to the third ranking in national polls. The University also hosted a summit including world leaders such as the Dahlai Lama.
In 2000-01, the new stadium hosted its first football game. Sororities, influenced by alumni organizations, gave away their right to join their male counterparts at fraternity houses to socialize in the presence of alcohol. Later that year, the son of an ex-president was elected after counts, recounts, and Supreme Court decisions to legitimize results. And finally, after a thought-provoking referendum on changing the structure of the student honor system was voted down, a computer program analyzing word structure implicated dozens of students in honor violations.
The next school year will doubtlessly bring us more debate on the honor system, the impact of the fraternity/sorority community and the scrutiny of a new football coach. It has been said that at the University the honor system and fraternity parties are as reliable as death and taxes, but with both of those called into question, our students will look for defining characteristics to continue to shape the identity of our unique University.
As we say goodbye to some of the beloved traditions and institutions that have been voluntarily taken away from us, we can still cherish the ones that remain.
We can sing the Good Ol' song with arms linked after every touchdown - so long as the lyrics do not offend anyone; we can streak our campus drunk and screaming in the night - so long as we run faster than the police stationed there to preserve public safety; and we can take our tests on a pledge of honesty - so long as we are aware that professors are double checking.
In the coming years, we should maybe find original ideas for traditions that are unique, and socially acceptable. Fourth years, instead of a fifth of liquor, could try to drink their daily 8 servings of water before the kickoff of the last home game. Instead of running naked through the Lawn at midnight, students could run fully clothed around the academic village five times at noon to build cardiovascular strength.
If it seems as if our school is losing a sense of tradition, it is because it's true. Fun is being replaced by responsibility, and students are having to answer to accountability. An increasing spotlight on college life has parents following their children onto their college campuses, if not directly, indirectly through sensationalized media stories and investigative reports. The truth about college cannot be told in this forum, but in the testimonials of the thousands of graduating students that profess a wealth of experience that has been taken from the tradition the University has to offer. So whether you are new in coming or returning to action at the University, you must be ready to challenge an ebbing tradition with new youth, enthusiasm, and innovation.
The individual initiative to grow, learn and create excitement at the University will not face walls, but open gates in Virginia's top university.
(Matt West is a Cavalier Daily columnist. He can be reached at mwest@cavalierdaily.com.)
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