At the University of Kentucky, it use to be that the consumption of alcohol was "ok" pretty much anywhere on campus. It was ok to drink in your dorm room or in the fraternity or sorority houses. Heck, depending on the situation, it was ok to drink on other parts of campus. For example, wine receptions for an art opening to a keg being brought in at the end of a class. (This really happened.) It was the *culture* of the campus at the time.

Fast forward.

After some alcohol related deaths, (not limited to the Greek community or to the UK campus) the University administration cracked down. UK became one of the first dry campuses in the nation. This applied to all University owned property. And property for any organization recognized by the University. Which meant all the Greek houses on and off campus.

So what happened?

My understanding is that initially, the GLOs - mainly the fraternities - had a hard time with conforming to the "dry only" policy. But after repeated University and various Inter/National GLO crackdowns - and graduating of the chapters' "old school" members - the *culture* changed.

And while I am sure that negative issues and situations may continue to arise with respect to alcohol, the "dry only" policy is now the *culture* of the campus.

I would like to add that this does not mean that the UK Greek community - or UK students in general - do not know how to party or have a good time. Just the opposite may be said. They still party and have a good time, but for the most part do so responsibly. The *culture* is that all events that involve alcohol must use a third party vendor. So risk management issues that are often associated with alcohol is kept at a minimum. If there is an issue, the individual - or group if applicable - is usually dealt with swiftly and fairly.

As such, Greek life is doing well. So well that the Greek system has grown from 17 fraternity chapters to 22 within the past ten years. So well that the University is working with chapters in developing the Greek Park. So well that the University is helping to build excellent new houses in prime real estate areas of Lexington for the Greek community.

So it is possible for the *culture* of drinking on a campus to change. And for the better.

edited for grammar and spelling

I don't doubt that this culture can change. But...I doubt that Greeks could ever change it and I think Greeks should consider whether they want to hold onto these high risk chapters. Once the university addresses its own issues and the campus is safe, then we should be there. Yes there are always exceptions, but to me these schools are hurting us too much.

-Rudey

There are two different issues here. High risk chapters and high risk campuses. They are not necessarily inclusive.

High risk chapters: GLOs should seriously review all their chapters for risk management issues and consider appropriate action regardless of the campus.

High risk campuses: A GLO should weigh its options regarding installing a chapter on a campus that may be considered a high risk. However, if a chapter is already on an "at risk" campus, and happens to be fine (i.e. not at risk), then it should not be removed. The chapter isn't at risk, and it may very well be offering a social alternative.

Did Greeks change the culture at UK? It depends on how you view it.

At UK, it was a Greek supportive Administration and Alumni Association that implemented the proactive policy.

The feeling was that this was not a Greek community specific issue, but the culture of the times and as such, the campus as well. While Greeks weren't singled out, they seemed to be on the front line due to the social aspect associated with being Greek.

And grated, it wasn't initially supported by the UK Greek community. However, UK's Greek Alumni were made to understand the benefits of doing this and they in turn made sure that their chapters understood.

The outcome was that not only did it insure that the Greek community would survive, but flourish at UK.

My dad and I had a conversation about this last night. He heard about the former Chi O girl found at a fraternity house and now he is all worried. ( I live across from the LXA house, so he knows what and where it is)

I had to explain that things like this happen a lot and the reason why these circumstances are blown all over the media is probably because of what organization they are in and where they were found.

He's still worried.

I'm sorry but i think our parents and HQs should be worried. I think it is tragic that this young woman's family has their pain being broadcast across the country but the reality is that we lose people every year to alocohol related deaths. I think at some point our orgs need to be more organized and focused on addressing the issues that come with college drinking. We state over and over again, that no matter what we will drink. Many people have had those nights where it could have been close. I don't think that this is really about the fact that she was a former sorority member and found in a fraternity house. The reality is that she was a young intelligent woman who lost her life. Yea there is responsibility on her, but it is also on the shoulders of everyone at the college. We are social groups and we have to promote a SAFE social atmosphere. Yea alcohol is fun, but it is a hell of a lot more fun when the ambulance doesn't have to pull up on your lawn.

-getting off my soap box now

There is a lot of talk about education instead of rules and regulations.

Education is good.

Delt has had DTAA (Delts Talking About Alcohol) for several years. It was the first program of its kind to get funding help from the government. Every Delt must take it. Most chapters get it every year. Several other GLO's asked and were given permission to use it under other names specific to their organizations, so some you have probably taken it and don't even know it.

It's a pretty good program. I took it as an advisor.

It is not a program that tries to stop alcohol consumption, but rather educate young people as to the effects of alcohol and the myths surrounding drinking. It preaches moderation, not abstinance.

As I said, it's a good thing.

I'm just not sure it works well enough.

My sad conclusion is that to really make a significant dent in college drinking it will take these educational programs, dry campuses, legal crackdowns on the part of local authorities and fairly harsh penalities. (Not just to Greeks, but student bodies as a whole)

I don't like that, but I don't know what else gives much more than lip service to solving the problem.

Obviously, I understand that even that won't solve the problem entirely.

Or, we can wash our hands of the situation, hope it will go away instead of grow, sit back and watch the body count.