Reporting Trip: Milledge Avenue

In reporting on my topic of how the COVID 19 pandemic has affected greek life, I visited Milledge avenue where I observed the operations of Greek life organizations as well as downtown Athens where I spoke with students who were involved in greek life. My first stop was Milledge Avenue which was especially quiet for being a Saturday in Athens. The usual scene consists of the many prominent fraternities hosting parties featuring loud music and large amounts of undergraduates crammed into a small space. However, now all there is to be seen is dark windows and the occasional shadow moving through the house. Upon speaking with a couple of greek life members downtown, IFC has placed firm restrictions on what is allowed during the pandemic and an aspect of these new regulations includes forbidding large gatherings within fraternity houses explaining the quiet scene on Milledge. Controversy has also broken out on social media over greek life’s treatment of the pandemic with various accounts of greek life students partaking in activities that are not within the guidelines of safe practices recommended by UGA. As the University of Georgia has continued on with hybrid learning, and downtown continues to remain open, it is no question that COVID cases will continue to climb. Will UGA begin to take action against these Greek life organizations as seen on other campuses, such as the University of South Carolina, or will they continue to operate with increased restrictions?