Since the University of Mich-
igan welcomed its students 
back to campus for the 2020 
fall semester, many students 
have felt torn between risk-
ing exposure to COVID-19 
and 
remaining 
isolated. 

Even when people make the 
choice to stay in, some still 
risk exposure if those they 
live with attend large indoor 
gatherings with no masks or 
distancing. The COVID-19 
pandemic has complicated 
social pressures from friends, 
tensions with roommates 
and the natural desire to so-
cialize. Amid these compli-
cations, Fraternity & Sorority 
Life’s life’s tight-knit, socially 
competitive community in-
tensifies 
groupthink 
and 

places undue social pressure 
on members. 

In order to better understand 
the experience and decision-
making of FSL members, I 
interviewed three members 
whose approaches to social-
ization vary greatly: one so-
rority member, whom I will 
call Rachel, who is not going 
to fraternity parties; one so-
rority member, whom I will 
call Julia, who is going to 
parties at different fraterni-
ties; and one fraternity mem-
ber, whom I will call Zach, 
who is attending his own fra-
ternity’s parties. 

All three FSL members told 
me that one of the greatest 
factors driving their social 
decisions is a fear of missing 
out. They said fellow mem-
bers often talk about the par-
ties and social events they 
attend, and not attending 
parties can make members 
feel they are missing out on 
important chapter bonding. 

“It seems like everyone I live 
with has accepted that get-
ting COVID-19 is inevitable 
and are just partying while 
they can,” Rachel said. “Ev-
eryone I talk to says that 
since other people in the 
house are, there is no point 
in not going. It’s hard be-
cause I feel like everyone is 
getting closer and making 
these memories together, but 
I have to remind myself that 
close, real friendships are 
rarely formed at parties.”

The members I inter-
viewed seem to count 
the risk of catching CO-
VID-19 as analogous to 
other risks that young 
people take, like drinking 
or smoking. However, the 
disease’s high transmis-
sion rate means that if one 
person in a living com-
munity adopts the risk, 
they raise the risk factor 
for their entire commu-
nity. Members of FSL 

who entered the school 
year planning on social 
distancing said they now 
feel burdened by the risk 
of COVID-19 exposure 
but without the upside 
of getting to socialize. 
However, 
this 
creates 

a 
dangerous 
feedback 

loop wherein people put 
themselves at risk based 
on the notion that they 
are missing out. They go 
out, making more people 
feel like the odd one out 
for not doing so, and then 
they contribute to the cul-
ture of partying with little 
regard for the greater im-

plications on the Univer-
sity community. 

Julia, who regularly at-
tends indoor parties at 
fraternities, explains that 
while she does not be-
lieve fraternities are safe 
to visit, her “frat guy 
friends are getting tested 
regularly and being super 
open and honest, so I feel 
safe in those specific situ-
ations.” 

Fraternity party attendees 
may feel relatively uncon-
cerned about transmitting 
COVID-19, as testing and 

symptom checking pro-
vide a sense of security. 
However, there is still 
high inaccuracy in test-
ing, especially the rapid 
testing that many in FSL 
are opting to take, and the 
average incubation period 
for an infected person 
with COVID-19 is 4-5 
days. This means that an 
infected individual could 
test negative, continue 
to socialize with multi-
ple circles of friends and 
spread the disease.

Infected individuals are 
most contagious in the 24-

48 hour period before they 
start showing symptoms. 
This means that frequent 
testing 
and 
symptom-

checking are not effective 
measures for preventing 
an outbreak in indoor set-
tings. According to those 
interviewed, many frater-
nities are currently hold-
ing under-the-radar mix-
ers with multiple different 
sororities weekly. It only 
takes one person at one 
party to spark the spread 
of COVID-19 into mul-
tiple houses in just one 
week.

Elle Jimenez, President of 
the University of Michi-
gan’s Panhellenic Asso-
ciation, commented that 
“The 
Panhellenic 
and 

IFC Executive boards … 
decided together that it 
would be in the best in-
terest of our immediate 
Panhellenic and IFC com-
munities, as well as the 
University of Michigan 
community, and the sur-
rounding community of 
Ann Arbor to keep our so-
cial moratorium in place 
from March 11, 2020,” 
and that “The Panhellenic 
Association at the Univer-
sity of Michigan actively 
discourages 
attending 

gatherings that violate the 
current Washtenaw Coun-
ty 
Health 
Department 

public health order.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Opinion
Thursday, August 5, 2021 — 23

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The normalization 

of frat parties in

Fraternity & 
Sorority life

LIZZY PEPPERCORN

Daily Opinion Writer