War on Fun
The War on Fun is a term used by students to refer to the recent perceived crack-down by the administration on campus events, particularly those involving alcohol. This includes a campaign by the administration to prevent students from going to any parties except the co-opted, regulated, lame "events" sanctioned by the aforementioned administration, as well as an increase in breaking-up of parties in the dorms, more and more of which are resulting in judicial consequences for the hosts. The administration began its campaign around 2006.
The War
While there is no acknowledged official campaign by the administration, the state of war is inferred by students from administrative actions overt and covert. Of the latter, the most often cited is the administration's refusal to place an extra security guard on duty on weekend nights at East Campus, when long lines of students waiting to swipe in stretch out onto Ancel Plaza. Due to its configuration of mostly suites around large living rooms, EC has traditionally been a popular location to host parties. Students have interpreted the administrative indifference to the logistical nightmare of getting into EC on Friday and Saturday night as a passive attempt to discourage parties.
More overt acts include the co-option and over-regulation of underground or popular activities, such as the once-popular "40s on 40" tradition into watered-down fenced-off event that eventually became so expensive and unpopular that it was cancelled. Similarly, Bacchanal is no longer allowed to hold parties off campus, i.e., at establishments serving beverages of the ethanol persuasion.
Perhaps the most egregious overt crack-down of a campus fixture was the administrations inexplicable decision to effectively kill off the 40-year-old Postcrypt Coffeehouse on the basis of a hyperbolic Bwog comment.
The ongoing NYPD crackdown on loose restrictions on IDs in local bars is often lumped in with the War on Fun but is actually merely an unfortunate coincidence.
One consequence of the War on Fun has been a dramatic increase in membership of Columbia's fraternities and sororities, which were traditionally low-key. But students looking for fun should probably consider downtown and Brooklyn. You came to Columbia so you could party in the city rather than at a frat anyway, right?
