Uhhhh Rissa, not all NMs are under 21. There may be those who non-traditional students or upperclassmen. Not to mention earlier drinking ages in Canada (18 (Alberta and Quebec) and 19 (everywhere else)). If these girls aren't allowed to drink througout their entire NM period, then it is hazing.

i apologize, i misread what you had originally wrote.

That's how it is at my school. We have to keep the new members with us until midnight on Bid Day so that no one has any alcohol on Bid Day.

our pledges are dry for eight weeks.

Our campus holds a dry recruitment period, meaning no parties given by fraternities or sororities until every IFC and NPC chapter is through with recruitment. It starts when school starts. (Hense the big anticipation of 10:01s because the dry rush period is lifted at 10:00 pm on the last thursday of rush.)

We kinda tweaked the rules one year though. Nu Alpha Kappa decided to throw a party a week before recruitment at a club. It was a fundraiser as well. Since we are affliates, we kinda got away with it. But it sucked cuz some of our close friends in other organizations involved in IFC and NPC couldn't go... because of dry rush.

During our pledge program, if you are over 21, regardless if you are a new member or active, you are allowed to have alcohol at an event. If you aren't 21, you don't drink at events. However, girls (if they prefer) can drink at pre parties before mixers, formals, etc. There are also certain restrictions/rules set for drinking at events. (No games, no sports bottles, only allowed to have one drink at a time, etc.)

And duh... no drinking in letters... or buying alcohol in letters. We added smoking later as well.

But if a new member can legally get into a 21+ club/bar with other sisters, friends, etc, she can drink.

We have girls that just don't drink at all too.

Do you also forbid initiated sisters who are under 21 to drink in the presence of each other? If not, then you're still separating the two groups of girls in a negative way.

I think the main problem is that some people in this thread are speaking of OFFICIAL sorority functions, and others mean the ENTIRE period of time that the girl is a new member or pledge. I can require new members who are under 21 to abstain from drinking at our semi-formal, because that is a violation of the law. However, whether as Leigh Anne or as an initated sister of Phi Mu, I CANNOT and should not tell any one of our new members that she is not allowed to drink at a fraternity party... yes, it is against the law if she is under 21, but that is not MY decision, it's hers. I am a New Member Educator, not a New Member Dictator.

Exactly. Nobody should ever be drinking at an official sorority function, 21 or not, but if two new members want to go fratting, who am I to tell them they can't just because they're under 21? I can tell them not to do it in our letters, but I can't tell them not to do it.

I also think this idea of forcing your pledges to stay dry would cause a big drunken party about 10 seconds after the initiation was over.

Can I just pose a scenario to all of the girls in this forum who think it's hazing?

Suppose you have a girl, Nina New Member, who is underage and who, during pledging, goes to a party with some friends, drinks too much, and is sent to the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Everyone knows that Nina is pledging JKL (felt like using new letters for a change, LOL) and it raises eyebrows with the school Panhellenic and possibly with JKL's nationals.

Now, suppose instead that JKL told their nm's that they're dry during pledging. Sure some of the girls might not be too happy about that, but in the long run, wouldn't it be better for JKL because it would be a sort of risk management?

No. That's controlling her life. Why should we direct every move of hers? Why should an ACTIVE who is underage drink and be able to tell a pledge she can't?

No no no no no. JKL should not get in trouble if it wasn't a JKL function.

IMO, Nina should be sent to whatever standards or discipline type committee that JKL has, because what she did was not upholding the standards of JKL. It is a shame that the sisters of JKL, unofficially, did not keep a watchful eye on Nina's drinking (if they were at the party) out of sisterly concern for her. HOWEVER, this is not a fraternity risk management issue, because the party is not a function of JKL. It is an issue of Nina choosing unwisely.