There are two important parties at Duke, and I'm not talking about politics. I'm talking about the partiers and the non-partiers. I'm not sure what percentage of people fall into each group, but there are probably more non-partiers than you think; they just aren't too visible. It's not like your partying gets interrupted by the guy quietly studying down the hall.
These two groups aren't really opposed, but they also don't hang out that much. In fact, the campus is pretty segregated. If you want to party, it's more or less required that you go greek. Those Princeton Review-esque college guides should include a little disclaimer: "Forty percent greek but only 50 percent partiers, so pretty much you have to be greek unless you don't want a social life. Add in selective housing, and being independent is impossible."
Just look at K-ville last weekend. I bet something like 80 percent of the population of Duke drinkers was out there. I'm sure there had to be a sober tent or two present-I mean, among the thousands of people out there, statistically, I think there had to be at least one group that just wasn't drinking. I didn't see them.
I wasn't drinking. I would have liked to have seen a couple of my fellow soberites. I guess they were a little scared. I can understand that. Drinkers are a little scared of soberites, too.
The segregation between these two groups is terrible. Just like politics, partiers and non-partiers are not two succinct groups but a spectrum. Some go out every night, some not at all, but most are in between. The current system-greek or not-forces people to chose between debauchery and abstinence.
Mark Twain said, "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between he does what he wants." For me, freshman year, this could not have been truer. I loved it. I had a solid group of friends I did almost everything with, but it was all still fresh. Come rush, I was having such a good time with the people I was with that I didn't see the point in joining a selective living group.
Then sophomore year, I lived with a bunch of my friends from the year before, though many others had joined groups and left. Essentially, I was stuck in a rut: For most of first semester the excitement of freshman year lasted. But it was all the same, all repetitive. By winter break, I realized I had not made a single new friend. I had had fun, but I couldn't imagine doing it again. So I rushed and am now pledging.
Sophomore year at Duke is often called hard. For independents, it's nearly impossible. The social structure simply does not exist for independents to meet people who were not in their freshman dorms. The spectrum from partier to non-partier is cut in half: Those in living groups and their leeches, who should have joined a living group, and those who want nothing to do with partying.
The whole housing system needs to be overhauled. Getting rid of linking and the other moves RLHS has made this year will not be enough to make sophomore year work. I say specifically sophomore year because going abroad junior year and living off-campus and having access to the Chapel Hill bar scene senior year make them completely different beasts.
What needs to be done is a little bit more radical. No more independents. Everyone should be required to join a selective living group. Just imagine how different second semester freshman year would be if you knew you had to find a selective living group that would fit you. People would actively try to meet and make friends with new people after the first few weeks of first semester, when no one knew anyone. And people would know that they had to find a group they fit in with and would work at it. Some people might fail to find a good fit, but then they probably fail to find a good group of independent to live with under the current system. The end result of this change: Everyone would have a home.
More groups would throw parties. Parties would be thrown by people whose lives don't revolve around drinking and would be healthier. Fewer people would be lost not knowing what to do with themselves.
Jordan Everson is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Friday.
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