Education: In Mourning

At the University of California in Berkeley last week, flags were flown at half mast, many students wore black arm bands and a large-sign on one fraternity house asked: “Are the Doors of Paradise Forever Closed?”

The reason for the widespread mourning was an official statement issued by President Robert Sproul banning liquor and unchaperoned parties for “all fraternities, sororities and living groups.” The campus blue law also ruled that “mixed gatherings of men and women shall be restricted to public rooms on main floors.”

At the Sigma Chi house disgruntled brothers held a mock liquidation sale (see cut) in which most of the bottles were empties. The Daily Californian complained that the new rule “will mean a whole bottle instead of a drink. We’ll just have to do our drinking parked up in the hills …” Moreover, cried the student editors, by neglecting to discuss the decision with representatives of student groups, the administration had failed to treat students “like adults.”

Not at all, countered an administration spokesman: “Traditional rules are just going down on paper. Student opinion will never be consulted as to whether mixed parties can be held in fraternity bedrooms.”