During my time at Washington State University, I became part of a family with 22 members who stand above the rest. Those original 22 members, who I spent day in and day out with, had highs and lows with, and grew so close to may never have become the first brothers I ever had without the experiences we shared.

The opportunity to build a family such as this comes once in a lifetime, and with President Elson S. Floyd’s new policy, it is being stripped from each and every incoming student.

Floyd, how close will future brothers of fraternity pledge classes be when the freshmen who live in Streit only see their pledge brothers in Stephenson East once a week? Not as close as the brothers who spent every day together under the same roof, I promise you that.

The policy being implemented restricting freshman live-ins has turned a proud Greek system on its head. Greeks abiding by some of the highest standards of any WSU organization are being shackled down even further, forcing these organizations to choose the lesser of two evils.

Will we be ‘dry’ and encourage freshman to live in by restricting Greeks, even those of age, from drinking in their own house? Or will we be ’wet’ and build a brotherhood of lower quality than ever before?

The longevity of our brotherhoods- which annually record thousands of community service hours and perform above university standards academically, among many other accomplishments- have all been severely threatened.

A major concern of WSU officials is that living in wet fraternities as a freshman is a less than adequate environment. This basis of this assumption is that there is a heightened drinking culture and minimal focus on academics.

Freshmen will drink if they want to. This shouldn’t even be a topic of discussion, but sadly, it is. If a fraternity decides to remain wet, this policy creates more danger for freshman physically and legally. Instead of having a safe place for younger members, the freshmen must make the long trek to the residence halls, which will likely be an icy walk through frozen tundra.

This policy signed by Floyd does nothing but either create a more dangerous environment with weakly-bonded pledge classes or dry organizations that will be known for years to come as those who took a knee and watched the Greek system turn into the Floyd system.

This group of organizations has held strong and abided by the ever-growing restrictions while somehow finding ways to survive. At some point, a line must be drawn. If the Greek community is dry and an organization receives added sanctions for failing to meet one of many criteria held to by WSU, what is left but to be removed.

The Greek system that we know now, with its rich history and devoted members, faces a point of termination that will come if we don’t hold our ground. Who will stand for us if we won’t even stand together to protect who we are proud to be?

–The opinions expressed in this guest commentary are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.