The Animal House teachable moment

Earlier in my career I would hear references made to how living in residence was like the 1978 movie Animal House.These references faded over time until recently when I heard it again. Having never seen the movie I decided it was time I sat down and watched it. Turns out I will never get those two hours back!

Animal House was awful! Aside from being a comedy with little humour and no plot line the story has virtually no resemblance to what it is actually like to live in residence aside from the fact that accommodations were "provided" on a college campus. For instance, residence is not a frat house, alcohol consumption is greatly exaggerated (see social norms study) and accommodations are hardly a dump (see most beautiful residences).

Should you encounter someone who uses Animal House as an analogy for living in residence stop them immediately and counter them with points like these:

• “Powerful learning occurs in situations where people come to know each other as friends”  (Chickering & Reisser, p. 399). -- see Persuasion for more evidence
• Students who live on campus are more likely to persist in higher education
• You can start a company and make millions or billions

What poor analogies have you heard someone make about a student's experience or the supports in place to help students be successful?