Students at Stanford are reportedly upset with their university administrators over a perceived “war on fun” that has seen the number of parties on campus dwindle dramatically.
The supposed lack of parties has mobilized a group of students to launch the “Stanford Hates Fun” campaign in a bid to pressure the university to allow more on-campus social events, the Stanford Daily reported. The group even brought a banner with the slogan onto the field during Stanford’s football game against Arizona State University last week.
STANFORD APOLOGIZES FOR ITS HISTORY OF ‘APPALLING ANTI-SEMITIC’ ADMISSIONS
Without pandemic-related restrictions, students at the prestigious California university were expecting a massive increase in the number of university-sanctioned parties. But the student newspaper reported that the number of parties through the first month of the fall quarter has been less than a third of what it was during the same period in 2019.
The biggest source of no-party anxiety came after university administrators forced the Kappa Sigma fraternity to delay its annual Eurotrash party. In response, the Stanford Daily reported that students climbed light posts and pushed shopping carts full of beer through the campus quad.
The lack of parties has concerned some student leaders, who say the limitations on social engagements are leading to unplanned and dangerous activities, such as the light post climbing and overcrowding at the parties that do happen.
“When you do host [parties], there are just way too many people,” Moritz Stephan, the president of a campus fraternity, told the Stanford Daily. “Last year, there were a couple where 600 to 800 [underclassmen were] trying to storm into our house, breaking through windows, physically and verbally assaulting members doing door security. And we just had to call the police on ourselves to, like, get everything cleared out.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Other student leaders said the university was making all activities unnecessarily bureaucratic.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, university spokeswoman Dee Mostofi defended the university, saying, “Stanford supports an environment where students can thrive, which includes a vibrant social life.”
“After two years of limited in-person gatherings due to pandemic-related restrictions, Stanford has expanded events in residential neighborhoods and across campus,” Mostofi said. “Students are actively engaged in planning and participating in these lively efforts.”
