Drink Limits at Parties
 

We currently (try to) limit people to no more than four beers at our parties. Some of our brother think it should be 6. What do you guys think?

It depends on the individual. Sometimes, two is too many. Other times, 10 is just fine.

For those that we don't know, careful observation is always the rule of thumb. Once they start becoming tipsy, they aren't having any more.

Realistically, is the limit even really enforced? If the answer is like I expect a no, it doesn't matter what it is.

At our parties it's unenforceable.... too many sources of alcohol in different rooms.

And four beers is kind of low...but so is 6.

How are you even enforcing that limit effectively?

The only solution I could see would be to limit the amount of alcohol available in the first place. I can drink 6 beers no problem. My pledge sister I drink with freuqently is silly after 2. Guys have varying limits, too. For some 6 will turn them into a maniac, for others it would barely be a start.

How about keeping your sargent at arms and maybe another guy completely sober for parties and enforce a you're-ridiculous-you're-out rule?

It depends on the time over which the alcohol is consumed and the size of the individual. Alcohol consumption over time= blood alcohol level

if you aren't taking these other things into consideration, a blanket beer cut off level is ridiculous and misleading.

If you have so few people at your parties that they can actually all get 6 beers...your parties suck. LOL

At Arkansas, every fraternity must have "party-martials" for every registered party.

Generally, these people are pledges or members who have done some wrong when there are no pledges. (except for Lambda Chi, I think they make members do it)

Anyways, they act as sober bouncers but can get drunk once the registered party ends (and the real party begins).

Why have limits at all?

1) No underage members should be drinking at organization-sanctioned events.

2) If anyone drinks at an organization sanctioned event and behaves responsibly otherwise, fine. If they embarrass themselves or your organization, you deal with it then.

Having a limit is meaningless if someone downed a fifth before they came through the door. Alcohol tolerance can vary so much in an individual on a daily basis with medication, food, sleep, emotions that an arbitrary number is not applicable.

I wonder how many fraternities have rules about third party vendors like many sororities do. It allows a trained and licensed professional to make the call and could actually be nice to not have to get into it with a brother if someone else handles it. It is a system that works in many bars, for a reason.

This.

This is ridiculous. Sounds like your fraternity cares about image too much and not about having fun together. "Excuse me buddy, but I've been watching you the whole time and I see that this is your 5th beer. You must now just talk to the others or leave the party. Have a good time. Frat on." Don't know your chapter, or fraternity but I can guess what your new rep. would be. The 4 beer [homophobic dumbass remark deleted] fraternity.

Even when I was in college in the dark ages, people drank before the party. It might help decrease consumption AT the party, but I'd gather that it won't make a dent overall.

With such wide disparities in ability to drink based on wide-ranging factors like weight, experience and metabolism, the only way you can make this work is to remove a numerical limit and instead enact the Feingold/Lil'John Standard of "Ball Till You Fall."

Glad I could help.

There's a solution^. There's also Vandals suggestion of hiring a third party bartender...then they get to make the call and no brother has to get involved.

I always assumed sober brothers at fraternity events with alcohol was a given (considering it's a huge risk management situation if you don't)

The way we've handled it in the past is to standardize the prices for drinks and have members pre-pay for drinks. You could do two different colors, one for mixed drinks and one for beers. They get tickets (like you would get from a raffle), and then they turn them in for drinks. That way you can monitor how many drinks each person can be sold without having to worry about it there.

Pay for drinks?

Many sororities have policies against open bars.

Drinks must be purchased, wristbands must be worn and so on.

We don't do open bars, but this could work just as well with an open bar system. Just check IDs and pass out tickets to people over 21 as they walk in the door.

FleurGirl is talking about sorority events at a country club/event hall type place with third-party bartenders. The OP is likely talking about more impromptu gatherings at a fraternity house. Apples:Oranges.

Also drink tickets can be effective in a disciplined setting, but come on. Everyone would just trade tickets or make arrangements to get extra.

Personally, I see this as being cheap. (for fraternities)

Many fraternities have adopted policies against open bars or the chapter providing alcohol period. Risk Management Factors. If the chapter is providing the alcohol, they become responsible for the person who gets drunk and has/causes an accident.

That doesn't surprise me, I just know that historically at least sorority risk management policies have seemed more stringent than fraternities' policies.
It's a risk management issue, not a cost one. However it's not really an effective risk management solution.

I will say I've never understood the appeal of "drink as much as you can all night long" as a party theme so I'm sure I'm not the target audience.

Oh I understand the intended mitigation that was sought.

I'm saying that if I went to a party where they handed out drink tickets, I would see it as being cheap...not a risk management solution.

UofA Greek Life doesn't charge a cover or whatever for any of it's parties and hopefully never will.

I have not brushed up on the latest rules very recently, but my recollection is that any kind of registered party with invited guests and chapter-provided alcohol that is not distributed by third parties in accordance with local laws is a standard prohibition by all NIC organizations- and possibly others as well. This is addressed in great detail, right down to rules addressing loopholes like everyone in the chapter handing over $10 and someone using it to buy a ton of beer that is just left out in the open for anyone to grab.

Getting to the OP's example- either 4 or 6 beers is enough for any person to potentially exceed DWI limits depending on the period of time over which those drinks are consumed. So on the very correct legal logic LaneSig has posted, just having a policy limiting drinks is not enough to truly cover you.

What does offer some key cover- and also potentially saves lives- is to hire a taxi service to offer free rides home starting about 2 hours into the official start time of the party and until the point when you are going to shut it down. This is what we did when I was in school, and I would highly recommend it to any chapter that hosts parties at the house.

EW and others have already pointed out the many flaws in any kind of policy on alcohol distribution and intake limits. When I lived in the house in college, long before official parties started, those of us who lived there, plus other members who drove over for the evening, would get a head start in the bedrooms and also make refresh trips during. The paid-for alcohol provided by third party servers was for our guests of the female persuasion. Members were expected to take care of themselves. And don't even get me started on wristbands and controls over who else might be giving them out besides a third party bouncer checking IDs.

From a purely legal and technical perspective, you are never going to have a perfect result when trying to manage a group of college students who want to party- Greek or otherwise. It is important to make some effort, but it won't be the final answer.

The best practical answer is to provide everyone a way to get home safely, free of charge. To the OP- this is what I advise. Set your limit at 4 or 6- whatever you want. If underage people drink, you broke the law either way. If someone has 4 or 6 drinks in 2 hours and drives, they are at risk for a DWI accident or arrest.

But if you provide a free taxi service to get people home and have someone being forceful about taking away car keys when necessary- then you have something that can achieve the real goal of protecting your guests and the general public, from harm.

Exactly. You can't stop people from drinking but you can prevent them from getting in a car and killing themselves or others on the road.

We had a "Dri Chi" system at my chapter. Sisters volunteered to be a designated driver to anyone of our members that needed a ride in town. We had one every night, two on Thursdays (the party night) and about four for date parties even when we usually had buses. Parents and local police knew about our system and praised us for it. Unfortunately, HQ has since passed the word down that we can no longer use it, even if the drivers sign waivers.

Yeah, shuttling is a huge risk management issue. My university has had a lot of issues with it, and one fraternity is facing major legal action because of an indecent. (I would cite it but I can't find anything besides the university paper which is a piece of journalistic trash)

Isht like this makes me crazy. Just don't write it down or discuss it at meetings. Your sister's immediate safety is the thing that's the most important. If you just "decided" to stay sober and other sisters "decided" to do the same, other nights, on their own, there's really nothing anyone can do about it.

It's a sad state of affairs when a truly sisterly/brotherly gesture is eradicated because a jackass insurance company tells you to do so.

Taxis are great but not an option for everywhere. We were happy to find out that our college town now has two taxi services - but that kind of went in the toilet when we found out they stopped running after 11 PM. UNLESS you make a reservation for later, and I believe you may have had to give a credit card # as well.

I can completely understand why buses are usually required now at official events. No matter how well intentioned, Sally might say she'll stay sober and then end up drinking which leaves someone without a ride, or worse...Sally driving.

Of course no one can tell you what to do in your free time. I know several actives at my old chapter that don't drink as a general rule and everyone knows that if there's an emergency, they'll provide rides. It doesn't have to be an official roster...it can just be sisters who don't often drink handing out their phone number, just in case. (My college town has no taxis, and though the two bars and two fraternity houses are easily within walking distance of campus, the cops seem to be very interested in public intox-es, so people often drive...which makes the non drinkers very popular).

For us, sober brothers can provide rides to other brothers, but never to non-members (unless, say, me, Joe Frat, Suzy Sorority, and Jenny Sorority go to the local bar). If it's an official/registered party, we're required to provide contact information for local taxis and coordinate the cabs' arrivals.

I'm talking about nights out, not chapter events. I know buses have to be provided if there is alcohol at all, and they might have to be provided even at dry events. (I forget). But there's absolutely no driving to an official event with alcohol.

Oh. I didn't realize you meant when folks were hitting the town.

Our RM policies would only go into effect if it's an official function OR if an outsider could possibly misconstrue it as an official function (ex. 40 brothers show up at a house and have a party). If we make the decision to go to a bar, though, it's up to us.

Same here. I was active at a pretty laid back chapter, but they were always hardcore sticklers about events and such.