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Subject: Univ. of Nebraska Greek houses reducing high-risk drinking

Lincoln Journal Star
Lincoln, NE
December 2, 2992

Greek houses reducing high-risk drinking
BY MARTHA STODDARD / Lincoln Journal Star

Finding fraternity beer bashes used to be easy for James Griesen.

Years ago, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor for
student affairs could simply stroll over to 16th Street on a Friday
night and follow the trail of sorority women.

Not anymore, though.

Griesen and others say pressure from university officials and efforts

by fraternity and sorority student leaders are changing the party
culture in UNL Greek houses.

"We have clearly reduced the incidence of high-risk drinking on
campus," Griesen said. "Over 16 years, I've got to say we've made a
tremendous amount of progress."

Mitch Walden, president of the Interfraternity Council and an Alpha
Gamma Sigma member, agrees. He said he can see the difference between
his first year on campus and now.

"We've seen a huge shift off of our campus with alcohol use," he
said. "When I came in as a freshman in 1998, it was not unusual to
have kegs, multiple cases of beer (at a party). ... That's dwindled
down to nothing."

He and others cite several factors behind the change:

* Stepped-up enforcement of university alcohol policies.

* Greek student initiatives, including a Greek Ethics Board, the NU
Greek Program and a new member summit.

* National attention to fraternity drinking problems.

Last fall, for the first time, Griesen withdrew a fraternity's status
as an approved student living unit because of repeated alcohol
violations.

That meant first-year students had to move out of the Theta Xi house,
cutting the number of residents by one-third. The University Judicial
Board then closed the house at 1535 R St., although the chapter was
allowed to continue operating.

Delta Upsilon faced sanctions this spring after a widely circulated
photograph exposed drinking and possible hazing activities at the
fraternity.

Those well-publicized incidents were among 21 university judicial
cases brought against Greek organizations during the past three
years, according to judicial affairs records. Some cases involved
repeat offenses by the same fraternity.

Sororities traditionally have not hosted parties and, therefore, have
not faced sanctions as an organization, although cases have been
brought against individual members.

Tom Workman, associate director for NU Directions, a program
targeting high-risk drinking on campus, said the cases brought and
the sanctions imposed have caught the attention of other university
fraternities.

"The men have now heard and they now know there is a zero tolerance
policy," Workman said. Added Griesen: "Our houses are learning from
the mistakes of others."

The response has taken several forms, Walden said.

Fraternity leaders this spring created the Greek Ethics Board, a
group of fraternity members who are called in when chapters are
facing sanctions for alcohol violations.

Board members work with chapters as peers, helping them pinpoint what
led to the violations and then develop ideas for possible sanctions
to address the problem. The sanctions then are proposed to the
judicial board, which can accept, reject or modify them.

Rosemary Blum, director of student judicial affairs, said the process
has worked well so far.

"That way they (fraternities) get to have more ownership in this,"
she said. "Once they own it, they seem to take more accountability.
It's hard to get buy-in when it comes from the administration."

A second student-led initiative aims at preventing violations.

The NU Greek Program, started this year, sets out standards in five
focus areas and certifies fraternities in each area for which they
meet the standards.

The focus areas are: social activities, including philanthropy; risk
management, which deals with alcohol and hazing; chapter programming;
internal judicial affairs; and alumni relations.

"It's kind of a self-check and balance kind of program ... to help
them get refocused on what we're about as a Greek system," Walden
said. "It's not all girls and parties."

A similar program for sororities is expected to start next year. The
program had to undergo a review by the National Panhellenic Council,
said Linda Schwartzkopf, UNL director of Greek affairs.

Also debuting this year was a new member summit, during which
fraternity and sorority members talked with pledges about alcohol and
about Greek values and traditions.

"What excites me about this is we now have the Greek system
leadership saying we care about this, too," Griesen said. "I just
think they're doing a very responsible job of working with their new
members."

The Nebraska efforts fit with strategies promoted by fraternity
organizations nationally to change their "Animal House" image.

The strategies aim to counter declining membership numbers, some
highly publicized alcohol-related deaths and studies showing that
Greeks binge drink at about twice the rate for all college students.

"Nationally, the fraternal system has been the ultimate scapegoat for
the college drinking problem," Workman said.

The Harvard School of Public Health studies show that fraternities
and sororities have made progress on the alcohol front.

The rate of binge drinking -- five or more drinks in a row for men,
four or more for women -- for residents of Greek houses dropped from
83 percent in 1993 to 75 percent last year. That compares to a rate
holding at 44 percent for all college students.

The binge drinking rate at UNL last year was 55 percent, Workman
said. No separate figures for UNL's fraternities and sororities are
available.

The efforts to change aren't without difficulty, however.

Greek student leaders have faced resistance from members unwilling to
give up the party atmosphere, Workman and Schwartzkopf said. Some
come to the university expecting to continue partying as they did in
high school. Others don't want to change.

Current students also have had to deal with some alumni members who
remember how things used to be, Workman said.

But both Workman and Schwartzkopf expressed confidence about the trends.

"It's a huge cultural change," Workman said. "I think they'll get there."

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Lincoln Journal Star
December 2, 2002

Troubled frat makes changes
BY MARTHA STODDARD / Lincoln Journal Star

Last winter, Delta Upsilon's problems were hanging out on e-mail for
hundreds of people to see.

A widely circulated photograph showed two members baring their
bottoms to show off dark red marks, a third member crouching between
them with a Delta Upsilon paddle and six others holding beer cans.

This fall, leaders of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln chapter were
touting their certification as a model Greek house in several areas
under the NU Greek Program.

"The way I see it is we are the house that's leading the charge right
now ... as far as what a fraternity should be," said Andrew Carr, a
UNL senior who stepped down as chapter president earlier this month.

The chapter's changes illustrate the shift away from a party culture
within UNL's fraternities, a shift noted by university officials and
Greek students alike.

Within Delta Upsilon, changes were pushed along by the February
incident and the charges that resulted within the student judicial
system.

Carr said chapter leaders worked with the Greek Ethics Board, a board
created by fellow fraternity members, to come up with sanctions that
would address the alcohol issue. The sanctions then were presented to
the Student Judicial Board for approval.

Being able to work with peers made a big difference, Carr said. But
it didn't allow the chapter to avoid punishment.

"They're not a get-everybody-out-of-trouble board," he said. "We
spent quite a bit of time coming up with creative ways that we could
make changes."

Among the changes were a new social event policy and code of conduct,
both focused on reducing alcohol problems, and a New Member Program.
The policies are designed to keep alcohol away from minors and to
restrain drinking among others.

Carr said the policies don't prohibit drinking entirely, but allow it
only in accord with state laws and university policy. On-campus
functions with alcohol are allowed only with a special permit.
Individuals are not allowed to have alcohol on campus.

So far, Carr said, the changes have been relatively well-accepted by members.

"If you sell it as `this fraternity is not about that' ...," he said.
"Continuing to do that (drink) on campus in the house is going to
jeopardize something that means a lot to a lot of people."

Nor have the new restrictions kept sorority women away from chapter
events, he said. But he observed that parties without alcohol or
without a focus on alcohol attract different women than the
alcohol-soaked bashes.

Membership changes forced by the spring incident helped with
acceptance. In cooperation with alumni, the house went through a
membership review and some members were dropped.

"We lost enough guys to make a financial impact, but a couple of
strong years of rush. ... It's nothing we can't bounce back from,"
Carr said.

He expects the certification through the NU Greek Program, a
student-led effort to promote Greek values and traditions and
discourage alcohol problems, will help with that recruitment effort.

"We have expectations, and as long as people realize that, we'll
continue to head in the direction we're heading," he said.

Copyright © 2002, Lincoln Journal Star.