Parties are an integral part of the college experience for many students. Whether it be a tailgate, a house show or fraternity party, students have had their pick of how they want to spend a night out. Now, however, the choices are slimmer. With the coronavirus on the forefront of most students’ minds, partying has taken a back seat — at least for some.
All students at the University of Oregon will be expected to abide by state-mandated safety measures. This includes limiting all indoor social gatherings to 10 people with physical distancing, as required by Lane County.
While the hope is that students will abide by safety guidelines, some might not. If a student does host a large gathering without safety measures, there could be consequences, Kris Winter, the associate vice president and dean of students, said.
“Our philosophy is always in our conduct process that it’s an educational process,” Winter said. “It’s not meant to be punitive, and so we will lead with education.”
Related: “What should happen to students who break social distancing regulations?“
Katy Larkin, the director of student conduct and community standards at UO, said that there isn’t just one outcome for students who have broken guidelines. Each case is different and dependent on many factors.
“It’s hard to describe exactly what would happen if someone had a party because it’s really case-specific,” Larkin said. “It depends on sort of the egregiousness of the issue. How many people were there, where it occurred, who was exposed, what the level of impact to the community is.”
UO is also partnering with the Eugene Police Department to continue party controls they have done in the past, Winter said.
River Veek, a third-year computer science major at UO, criticized students partying during a pandemic.
“I think anyone who is throwing large, unsafe parties right now is a selfish, instant gratification-seeking idiot,” Veek said. “I too wish we could all just go back to normal, but it’s not going to happen if people keep disobeying social distancing guidelines.”
Veek said he believes that students who throw parties without safety measures should face fines by the university or even potential expulsion.
“I think that people can still hang out with their friends and have a good time,” Veek said. “But it has to be done in a safe and smart way.”
Shelby Cheeseman, a third-year political science major at UO, also said she thought students should be responsible in the way they approach partying. She said she understands the risk of the virus and is trying to keep a small social bubble.
“I’m trying to keep it really small just for my roommates’ sake because I don’t want to risk their health,” Cheeseman said. “I feel like it’s one thing to risk your own health, but risking the health of others is not the best.”
As a member of Gamma Phi Beta on campus, Cheeseman said she thinks her sorority is doing a good job at trying to keep members safe. She said there are no in-person events for fall term, and unsafe behavior could have consequences.
“We can actually report people that are not socially distancing,” she said.
Winter said that the university has been working with Greek life on campus to create a plan for a safe fall term. She said that chapters can participate in a walkthrough of their house with representatives from PeaceHealth, Lane County Public Health, the Eugene fire marshal and herself to receive feedback on making their environment as safe as possible.
Consequences for unsafe behavior by fraternities and sororities will be the same as any student at UO, Winter said. The only difference for Greek life members is that the organization can be held accountable as well.
“What I don’t want is for students that are sick to feel like they will get in trouble for coming forward and for asking for the help and support that they need,” Winter said. “We’ve done a lot of work on supporting students that might test positive for COVID, and so we’re also very conscious of the fact that we want students to be able to come forward to seek out help.”
