[DeltAlum]

Excerpted from the Rocky Mountain News...

"Frats vote to ban parties
CU groups make decision after reports that students needed medical attention

By Sarah Langbein, Rocky Mountain News
September 28, 2005

University of Colorado fraternities voted Monday night to prohibit parties at their houses, after reports that nine co-eds needed medical attention after heavy drinking at two of their parties.

At least seven of the young women, ages 18 and 19, were hospitalized early Saturday. At least one had a blood-alcohol level of 0.3 percent, said Ryan Lynch, internal vice president of the Interfraternity Council, who said he reviewed police reports...

...The news comes just one year after CU student Lynn "Gordie" Bailey and Colorado State University student Samantha Spady drank themselves to death. It also comes less than a month after CSU disciplined eight Greek houses for parties known as "Rise and Ralph..."

...Just before 1 a.m. Saturday, Lynch said he placed the first call to 911. He and other members of IFC were patrolling fraternity house parties to ensure regulations were being followed.

They looked for sober brothers, checked for the availability of nonalcoholic beverages and scanned the crowds for intoxicated partygoers, just as they do on any weekend. At Sigma Pi, all seemed to be in order, Lynch said.

But when he stepped outside, he witnessed a member of the Delta Gamma sorority fall and cut her chin.

"She was clearly intoxicated," he said. "And speaking with (her friends) it was clear she needed medical help."

Lynch called 911.

Then a second emergency call came from Delta Gamma, which said a member was passed out in the lobby of the sorority house. (DeltAlum adds: other reports say that sorority sisters were unable to wake her up)

While police and medics were attending to her, they were alerted to an intoxicated woman at Alpha Phi, a sorority on the same street.

As police began to piece together the drunken evening, they learned the women attended parties at Sigma Pi and Phi Kappa Tau. Then, they learned of three more women who already had been taken to the hospital, Brooks said. It was unclear whether they had a sorority affiliation or whether they'd been to the fraternity parties, Brooks said.

The night didn't end there. Campus police told city officers they attended to two intoxicated women on campus. Then, yet another 911 call was made, this time by a worried roommate. Police responded to a private home in the 2900 block of East Aurora Avenue, where another member of Delta Gamma was intoxicated, police said...

...The parties at Sigma Pi and Phi Kappa Tau began Friday night.

At Sigma Pi, it was an invitation-only get-together with sororities Delta Gamma and Kappa Kappa Gamma. Bring your own beer, guests were told. Partygoers said IDs were checked at the door and wristbands were distributed to those of legal age to drink. Cans of beer were served from behind the bar. Cases of bottled water were available. (DeltAlum adds: Sounds like they did some things right)

At Phi Kappa Tau, the theme was "Heaven or Hell." Women in scantily clad devil and angel outfits arrived at the fraternity house. Fraternity members patrolled the front door. Beer and hard alcohol were consumed.

Marc D. Stine, Greek advocate at CU, spoke with members of both fraternities after the parties. He learned that individual frat brothers at Sigma Pi provided alcohol to minors, and at Phi Kappa Tau the party became unmanageable. There was no control of the front door, Stine said.

By Monday, rumors circulated that the women were slipped the date rape drug. Police denied those allegations but said it would be part of their investigation because one young woman reported having only one drink before becoming highly intoxicated. None of the women reported being sexually assaulted, Brooks said...

...Lynch, the IFC vice president, said his organization is frustrated with the weekend events. Just four days before the parties, members of the CU Greek system crowded Mackey Auditorium to listen to a talk about hazing and responsible alcohol consumption.

"We thought we made significant strides forward, and we have," Lynch said. "And then this."

The frustration resulted in a Monday night vote to keep parties out of fraternity houses, at least until the end of the semester, so that third-party venues, such as bars, can better monitor alcohol consumption, Stine said."