In regards to the 2006 Blood Dance hosted by Delta Sigma Phi:
Let me first start out by saying that I am truly sorry for what happened to Fraternity President Dan Feldman. There was no need for the crowd to become as unruly as it did. However, with that being said, the crowd had every right to be angry and still should be.
The Blood Dance was a poorly organized disaster. Aside from losing their money, many people who had made the effort to pay in advance were kept outside in the freezing cold (and with the majority of women’s costumes leaving little to the imagination, you can guess how truly cold it was for some of us) for close to an hour, while others simply strutted in. And now we don’t even have the option of getting our money back?!
Let me make sure I am getting this correctly. Students paid money to attend a party, spent their night getting ready for it and all they got in return was a freezing cold wait in line? What a rip off!
There is no debate over whether or not this was for a good cause. We can all agree that the American Red Cross is a worthy charity. But I’m guessing a good number of students weren’t going for that reason; they were going because they were promised a good time and that’s just the price they had to pay. Many probably didn’t even know it was a charity event. They hear the words “frat party” and sign up. Not offering students the chance to get refunds is irresponsible and unfair. We did our part and the other side didn’t live up to their end of the deal.
Whether or not the students who paid choose to let the charity keep their money-it is still their decision to make. Those who want their money back, because they received nothing for it, have every right to make that decision. This is deceptive and almost as bad as stealing. No wonder frats get a bad reputation.
It didn’t take a genius to see what was going to happen. More than 600 people had confirmed to facebook that they were going and over 400 more gave a maybe. Then of course there were still going to be people who were just going to show up. Delta Sigma Phi never seemed to take this into consideration. What good is it to buy a ticket in advance if there’s no limit to how many they’ll sell and its just first come first serve anyway? Did anyone ever sit down and consider that?
My advice to Delta Sigma Phi is to offer a refund and a sincere apology for all the trouble they have caused. That’s all many of us want. I’m sure a good number of us will even let them keep our money. But if they don’t, that’s their call to make.
Learn from this Delta Sigma Phi. Take all your wrongdoing into consideration for next year and do a better job. I’m sorry you guys screwed up and I’m sorry the Red Cross may have to suffer for it. But you did screw up, badly. Think of how much more they will suffer next year if you are too ignorant to refund what is rightfully ours back to us. We won’t forget the events that occurred this year. See how much money you will make in the future if no one trusts or respects you. Make it easy on both you and us and do the right thing.
Stephanie Strahan is a University student