Drink and drive
Campus Life, College Life, Local 8

On The Extinction of Pledge Rides

By · On November 5, 2014
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First, it was the dinosaurs. Then, it was Surge soda. Now, it’s pledge rides.

The extinction process is one that we tend to think comes naturally with time, but in some extreme cases, someone with enough power and influence can force extinction upon just about anything.

Via: Fergus Fall Journal

The topic at hand today is one that everyone talks about but can’t seem to rally around for a solution. I’d like to open up the conversation to students and faculty alike on how to solve the inevitable problem of how students will get around the 2,000 acres of land that we call the University of Florida late in the evening when, according to a UF poll, almost 26 percent of the student population drinks seven or more drinks each night out. 

It’s a sensitive topic that has seen a surge in notoriety due to the recent wave of on-campus sexual assaults, which has put a spotlight on the university due to the simple fact that things just aren’t safe like they used to be.

At the beginning of Spring 2014, UF sent a message to all Interfraternity Council presidents regarding the prohibition of pledge driving. The university would take disciplinary action if they found “new members” giving out rides to anyone as a part of the pledging process. Essentially, the university has prohibited fraternities and sororities from having designated drivers.

All IFC presidents drilled it into their chapter’s heads that new members couldn’t drive people anywhere, no matter the circumstance, and if caught, the university would make an example out of the first chapter to screw up.

Via: Sandiegan

Well, isn’t this off to an amiable and non-threatening start? Let’s continue.

Consequently, college students who hesitate to spend $7 on anything besides Chipotle are presented with a a host of inadequate choices: Pay for a ridiculously overpriced cab, wait 45 minutes for SNAP, drive drunk or walk home, wherever that may be.

Since then, what have we noticed? Well, for one thing, we’ve seen an increase in the number of police officers. That’s all fine and dandy, but we’ve also seen an increase in the number of police officers who who stand around, socializing with one another. Students’ perception is that the police are more worried about nabbing people on bicycles, handing out MIP (minors in possession of alcohol) tickets and honing in on the little, inconsequential things rather than keeping college students and residents of Gainesville safe from harm. May I remind you, it is their responsibility to serve and protect, two very powerful words that should not be trivialized.

In lieu of “pledge rides,” which are so cleverly and pejoratively termed, UF’s Student Government decided to take action and get Uber on campus. That was a fantastic move, except for the fact that Uber rides cost just as much, if not more, than a taxi does.

When UF played Missouri, there was “surge pricing,” which caused fares to be hiked up more than five-fold.  I understand that up-charging doesn’t always occur, but what day of the week are the majority of students drinking during the fall? It’s a no brainer.

We need more viable options.

Via: Business Week

I understand that the university probably has a ton of kids bitching about this issue, but nothing has been done. I can appreciate all the alternatives that have been offered, but we have to stop clapping out of courtesy and be frank: Kids are driving drunk all around this university, people are being sexually assaulted and a shitstorm is brewing, just waiting to rain down on all of us.

We are a HUGE school in the SEC. These are people’s lives we’re talking about, they should be priority No. 1 instead of our fucking football team, the goddamn gymnastics team or whatever else the adults that run this university prioritize simply because of the bottom line. 

Share this article. Get people talking about the issue of prohibiting pledge rides. The adults aren’t going to do it, so it’s up to us. They’re out of touch and their intentions are sometimes misguided. Students are the only ones who are capable of effecting change in this situation. So let’s figure this damn thing out TOGETHER. We’re supposedly the most intelligent student population in the state of Florida. It shouldn’t be this hard.

Let’s make some changes.

Go Gators.

Feature photo courtesy of: Nor Cal Criminal Law

Matthew Arbucci

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  • Ya Motha

    Great article. As a UF student I can confidently say that the University doesn’t give two shits about the safety of their student body as can be seen by their short-sighted policy changes such as this. I’m not spending $8 on an Uber to go one fucking way, thats absurd. Thank you for inadvertently supporting drunk driving by making such stupid changes as this.

    Pledge rides should NOT be considered hazing. They are VOLUNTARILY pledging in an attempt to JOIN the fraternity. They don’t have to do anything, if they don’t agree with the system why would they want to be part of it in the first place? Also, if you pledge and drive for others, you will get a much larger payout because for the rest of your time at the University others will drive for you. Its an investment into the safety of yourself and others.

    The part about police officers is spot on. I’ve gotten a ticket for not completely stopping at a stop sign on a BIKE, but the University can’t seem to catch a criminal who continually tries to sexually assault students on campus? I bet so many people wouldn’t be walking if there were still pledge rides.

    We all know that nothing will change though, and just like in this past election the youth will continue to be apathetic to the crooks of the previous generation.

    • UF Alum02

      Am I reading this right? YOU WON’T SPEND EIGHT DOLLARS on uber. Wow, are you an F$U student on here?

      • UF Student

        No, we’re just college students who don’t want to pay $8 for a ride that is no more than a mile away.

  • UF Greek brother

    I wrote a long comment, but I’ll keep it simple – if a pledge dies in a crash while sober driving, UF has to deal with angry parents who wrongly claim “HAZING is happening at your university!” Even if the pledge is asked VOLUNTARILY if he can drive and given the option to say yes or no. Compare this to a brother who drives drunk because he has no DD (or sober, 18 year old pledge) and is killed in a wreck because of his intoxication. Nobody points fingers at the university in this instance, because even though the brother would’ve gotten home safe with a pledge ride, people will say “He should’ve planned better for the night.” And even though he should have, the point I’m making with these examples is this – the University doesn’t give a fuck if I get home safe after a night at the bars. As long as they don’t get sued by parents for allowing hazing, they sleep great at night. And that should put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, Greek or independent.

  • Tj O’leary

    Why would the university take away designated drivers for the organizations that are clearly consuming the most alcohol and not offer a solution for all of these students? The best phrase I heard this article was “out of touch.”

  • Confused

    Did I miss the part where they took away designated driving, period? Or am I correct in understanding that they just said you can’t coerce new members of a frat/sorority to drive the drunken older students around?

    Are you physically incapable yourselves of taking nights off to be the sober driver, or are you that desperate to get drunk that you have to force other people into driving? Why should a new member have to be responsible for getting you home simply because they’re new? When my group of friends goes out, we just appoint one person in the group to remain sober and that person changes every week so that it’s fair and everyone has a turn.

    If you want to go out and drink that’s your call, but you need to find a way home that doesn’t take advantage of the new members, because that is in fact hazing, even if they agree to it. Why wouldn’t they agree to it? The whole reason hazing is an issue is because new members feel the only way to stay in the group is to agree to your conditions. Saying they can decline is fine in theory, but in reality to them they think “if I say no, my new brothers/sisters won’t think I’m cool.” That has a big influence on someone who really wants to be in the group.

    Why should they be responsible for getting you home if you made the choice to not have a friend remain sober. Grow up and realize that your school is in fact doing students a favor; just because you don’t fall under the umbrella of people who benefit doesn’t mean you should bitch.

    • Rachel

      Actually they have applied it to DDs. It’s being widely applied to brothers as well as pledges, preventing members from doing any sort of sober rides for fear of bringing their chapter under fire.

    • Sarah

      Every societal organization has a pecking order. If this was a business per say, they would make the interns be the DDs just simply because they’re at the bottom of the pecking order. Once they are no longer interns, they will move up and get to do the same to the new interns. It is just because they are new, but everyone that is driven around by the “new” people were once “new” as well and, did their time. Ya give some ya get some.