There are no serious spoilers here.
In episode 2 of Half Man, a new HBO limited series, Niall, one of the main characters, leaves his home to enroll at Glasgow West, a fictitious Scottish university. He welcomes a toxic visitor from home. Chaos ensues. To respect those who are watching the show and have not yet seen its second episode, I will not provide additional details here. I will, however, make some important connections to trends I have seen at U.S. universities.
A portion of my first higher education job entailed advising the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the umbrella organization for the nine historically Black sororities and fraternities. Because they did not have houses on frat row at Indiana University at that time, these groups held parties and other social events in the student union, in residence hall lounges and other spaces on campus. This is fairly typical at predominantly white institutions at which these organizations have chapters. Also common is the hypersurveillance and overpolicing of their events.
Generations of NPHC organizations (also known as the Divine Nine)—Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Sigma Gamma Rho, Zeta Phi Beta, Phi Beta Sigma and Iota Phi Theta—have been required to have extra security for on-campus events. Meanwhile, predominantly white fraternities, especially those with houses on or adjacent to campus, are able to carry on with rowdy parties that sometimes break laws and university policies (for instance, underage drinking, drug use and sexual assault).
Typically, alcohol is not served at Divine Nine events. More common is for partygoers to pregame prior to arrival. Occasionally, fights break out during these parties (and to be sure, there are occasional fights in predominantly white frat houses, too). Rarely are NPHC members the instigators or culprits at their events. It is most often nonstudents, the homies, who come from across town or out of town.
I know this to be true not just from my student organization advising experience nearly three decades ago, but also from my more recent research on Black students’ social lives on campuses where they are severely underrepresented. Contemporary NPHC members and other Black undergraduates describe steep, seemingly racist security hurdles that make it difficult for them to have parties and social events at predominantly white institutions. They say that being forced to hire extra private security personnel to work alongside campus police officers is financially burdensome, at times completely unaffordable. These Black collegians, like those whom I advised many years ago, say it is visitors, not NPHC members or other students, who bring drama and violence to campus. I thought of them as I watched Niall’s homie wreak havoc on his university.
At one point, the visitor, a nonstudent, was staying overnight with Niall and other Glasgow West undergraduates. This reminded me of a more recent occurrence described to me on a campus here in the U.S. last year. A student (not a Divine Nine member) had a friend from his hometown living in the residence hall on campus for weeks, possibly months. This person was not enrolled. Reportedly, the homie vandalized a building, sold drugs to students and brought an unpermitted gun to the residence hall. Noteworthy is that this was not an open carry campus. One weekend, the homie, not the enrolled student with whom he lived, invited other homies to the university. They came and brought guns with them. A fight broke out. Shots were fired. Thankfully, no one was injured.
In recent years, gunfire has disrupted homecoming festivities at a few historically Black colleges and universities. One such instance was at Albany State University, my beloved alma mater, in 2024. A shooting near the on-campus homecoming concert left one person dead and five injured. At ASU and elsewhere, law enforcement officers and investigators linked these acts of violence to unaffiliated campus visitors. Administrators and students almost always corroborate this.
Friendsickness is a real phenomenon that complicates students’ first-year college transitions. Maintaining relationships with friends and family members who are around the same age is a necessary and useful mediator for some undergraduates. Inviting them to campus for occasional weekends and events—not to live in residence halls without paying or being enrolled—is a great idea. Insisting across the board that collegians cut ties with significant others who still reside in their hometowns, even those who are seemingly toxic, is not always good advice.
As was the case with Niall, there are unique features of treasured relationships back at home that students sometimes need as they transition socially to college. Furthermore, some people who will become lifelong friends either chose or were unable to pursue higher education. That should not disqualify them as friends or exempt them from invitations to visit campus. In fact, there is a chance that being the guest of a friend could compel a nonstudent to apply and enroll at that or another postsecondary institution.
It is essential, though, that the homies understand the norms and cultures that govern colleges and universities. Hosts must insist that they leave their weapons at home and not engage in acts of violence during their visits to campus. Surely Niall wishes he had conveyed these expectations to his guest.
Shaun Harper is University Professor and Provost Professor of Education, Business and Public Policy at the University of Southern California, where he holds the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership. His most recent book is titled Let’s Talk About DEI: Productive Disagreements About America’s Most Polarizing Topics.
