The Privilege of Partying in “Claradise”
Neglected Greek system spreads coronavirus among off-campus student population
During a typical, pre-pandemic Saturday on Bellomy Street, the bustling hub for off-campus parties, students decked in Hawaiian shirts and swimsuits meander from house to house to dance or play beer die. Now, during a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, Bellomy looks the same.
Today’s Bellomy street is filled with people, as it always has been. It is a culture shock moving from life in isolation at home to the gatherings ranging up to 70 people. Parties occur frequently and on the traditional schedule: Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays—with an occasional Thursday here and there. Some students obviously give thought to corona and wear masks, but far too many do not. There are parties featuring less people following a bubble strategy in hopes of avoiding the coronavirus, but fraternity parties are a world away from any sort of covid-friendly gathering.
With the spread of the coronavirus comes deadly consequences for members of the Santa Clara community, particularly for those who are at high-risk for the virus. There is also much at stake for the workers who maintain the house’s gardens and clean the very fraternity houses that host large parties that contribute to the increase in coronavirus cases. Should any of these workers get sick and lose their income, not to mention possibly die, they would be unable to support themselves or their family, as not every member of our community is affluent enough to live without work or pay.
However, as many are quick to blame the students who are no doubt spreading coronavirus with their partying, the primary party to blame is the University itself. The coronavirus parties happening at Santa Clara can be stopped immediately. The university, after years of ignoring and neglecting the off-campus Greek community, could finally affiliate the Greek system to slow the spread of coronavirus by providing much-needed services such as contact-tracing and guidelines for Greek houses.
The name “Claradise” is used both officially by the university and unofficially by students to signify the idyllic, four-year college experience that Santa Clara provides. Anonymous executive fraternity member weighs in on the concept.
“Claradise is subjective, it is you making your time at SCU meaningful,” said one anonymous executive fraternity member weighing in on the concept
The common rationale for continuing to party amidst the pandemic goes along the lines of, “if you came back, you know what you signed up for,” according to the anonymous executive fraternity member. But this justification assumes all students have a home they can move back into if they are high-risk or just fear getting the coronavirus. In addition, many students who are partying have been quick to advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement either on social media or with signs in the windows of their house, while at the same time deciding to actively spread coronavirus, which has been shown to disproportionately kill Black people. It is impossible to mistake the privilege that permeates just beneath the sunny exterior of the subjective “Claradise.”
As evidenced by the perpetually littered red solo cups just one block off-campus and dominated by student housing, Bellomy Street is the unofficial hub of Claradise. It is the “unaffiliated” social scene. The art of navigating these streets is taught as a careful tradition among Santa Clara students, so it is well understood where the party goes down. Many of these houses are a part of the unaffiliated Greek system of Santa Clara.
The primary method of partying for off-campus students has always been fraternity houses, with their exciting day parties that fulfill the promise of the typical college experience. It is important to note that the Santa Clara Greek system is unaffiliated with the university, so the university does not devote real attention or take real action regarding any part of the acts of fraternities and sororities.
“It’s a cop-opt. If the fraternities are not affiliated they can simply say any gathering it has is not Greek because nothing is official,” said anonymous. fraternity member. The university also ignores the way in which these organizations impact student life and the off-campus community. Greek life has been unaffiliated since.
The University’s neglect of the off-campus Greek organizations has resulted in deadly consequences for the community. Santa Clara University needs to step up and give aid to the very people that sustain it. There needs to be an incentive for the fraternities to affiliate and finally be regulated and held accountable. This idea is not so far-fetched as many universities, even Harvard, have stepped in to deal with the partying of students amid the pandemic.
The partying hasn’t changed despite the coronavirus and is pain-stakingly obvious to anyone who should drive by Bellomy street on a Saturday at 2 p.m. to hear the sounds and scurries of large gatherings of students. The coronavirus pandemic in SCU’s off-campus housing demonstrates the privilege that has been allowed to develop within what the university pitches as “Claradise.”
There rings a question in the air about when school will be in person again.
“No one has thought about spring quarter, everyone is so fed up they want it to be normal,” said an anonymous off-campus student who has been trapped inside by their own housemates’ decisions to party. “It seems like a poorly devised coping mechanism, an inauthenticity to the fact that we need to continue to make sacrifices.”
After all, it is extremely difficult to not only be in college, but to be living through a global pandemic at the same time. This is why the university must take action and protect the students who are being put at great risks as a result of college partying gone unchecked amid a pandemic.