Dry by 2002?

I strongly disagree with the fact that all houses should be dry by the year 2002. I mean were in college and most college students are going to drink somewhere, I just think that frat houses are a much safer place than partying somewhere away from campus.

[mgdzkm433]

Look at it this way, the national image of greek frat housing is what? Frat house=party house. The reason why they are trying to make houses dry is to cut back on that image and boost greek support. We all know what greek housing is like, we know what it is, and how greeks act. The problem isn't with the housing or the greek community, it is with the "non-greek" community. Housing at my school was completely shut down about a decade ago. This is because "partying" was the only thing that the public saw, they refused to see the greek orgs for what they were. They didn't want "their" community to be brought down because of greek housing. Just think, you still have your house. Many campuses won't let greek housing be available to their greek orgs. If you get a house off campus, it isn't approved by the nationals, there is no win-win situation. Socials are fun, parties are fun, but don't let this bring you down, show people what greeks really stand for and why they are wrong. Maybe things will change, who knows?

Mikki
Delta Zeta Alum
Kappa Mu Chapter
Sigma Alpha Iota
Eta Tau Chapter

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"Why not upset the apple cart? If you don't the apples will rot anyway."

Frank A. Clark

[33girl]

SMS - Amen! I guess we'll just have to wait till the drunk-driving deaths go up for people to see how lame this is.

Originally posted by mgdzkm433:
Look at it this way, the national image of greek frat housing is what? Frat house=party house. The reason why they are trying to make houses dry is to cut back on that image and boost greek support. We all know what greek housing is like, we know what it is, and how greeks act. The problem isn't with the housing or the greek community, it is with the "non-greek" community. Housing at my school was completely shut down about a decade ago. This is because "partying" was the only thing that the public saw, they refused to see the greek orgs for what they were. They didn't want "their" community to be brought down because of greek housing. Just think, you still have your house. Many campuses won't let greek housing be available to their greek orgs. If you get a house off campus, it isn't approved by the nationals, there is no win-win situation. Socials are fun, parties are fun, but don't let this bring you down, show people what greeks really stand for and why they are wrong. Maybe things will change, who knows?

Mikki
Delta Zeta Alum
Kappa Mu Chapter
Sigma Alpha Iota
Eta Tau Chapter

I understand what you mean by the whole greek image thing, but people who think that way are going to think badly no matter how hard we try to make them understand us as something besides the image they already have. I know that my chapter stands for way more than partying, as does every other chapter I know of. What I'm saying is that we all like to have fun at frat parties-and that by not allowing us to party somewhere close enough to campus that we can walk to and from is just going to cause more accidents when it comes to alcohol. I mean I know that we always have sober sis, but there are a lot of people who don't-so these people will end up driving drunk, and it will in my opinion cause many more accidents involving alcohol-but thanks for your opinion

[mgdzkm433]

You are correct. There will always be that chance. I would suggest stating your opinion in a letter to your nationals. The only problem with bring this up, all 26 national sororities "should" have designated drivers at all functions. I know that we were required to be drivers at least 3 times every semester. There were always four drivers for every party. Each sister threw in a couple bucks for gas. That is the safest way. I realize that there are orgs out there that don't follow the rules, that is not anyone's fault but their own. "If you play with matches, you're gonna get burned."

[GregFIJI]

Ay Dios Mio!

Suprise, Suprise, people are going to be pissed off that campuses/houses are going dry. My chapter house already has, and my International deadline for alcohol free housing is Aug. 3 2000. Phi Delta Theta has been dry for at least a year...lots of chapters are doing it. Trust me, the benefits of going alochol-free will be seen when people are rushing (if you have a chapter that can handle 365 rush) and your chapter WILL be stronger.

And when you have to go somewhere to drink, then BE FREAKING RESPONSIBLE!!! I am sick of people bitching that "it is so much safer to drink in a fraternity house...". If you are responsible enough, then you dont have to worry where you drink, because you would have thought ahead. And, if worse comes to worse, CALL A TAXI. 90% of cab companies will take you home free of charge if you cant drive.

Greg Killeen
Phi Gamma Delta

[33girl]

Greg,

I went to a small school in a rural area. Taxis did not exist. We would have had better luck finding a cow to ride home.

A lot of these alcohol free policies seem to assume that every school is located in a metropolitan area with myriad dry dance clubs and for the legal, student friendly bars. Guess what? At a lot of places, fraternity parties are the only game in town. Slippery Rock in PA is the most obvious example I can think of – the town itself is dry, and the nearest bars are 20 miles away in Butler, which is not exactly the city that never sleeps.

Between the raging Puritan morality and the CYA policies, there is nowhere to turn. 2 other posters were mentioning about sober sis – I read on a discussion board somewhere that an NPC sorority (who I won’t name) had banned their chapters from having any kind of designated driver program, supposedly because it promotes drinking and creates liability. That completely pissed me off. That just says to me that the sorority doesn’t really care about the welfare of its members – they are more concerned with image and legal mucky-muck.

So the next response is “Well then don’t drink! You don’t need alcohol to have fun!” Which is true. But the majority of college age students do like to have an intoxicating beverage now and then, and this isn’t a sin. They also don’t like more rules placed on them than their parents and teachers have combined. We never had these problems before the (completely unconstitutional) federal highway funding act, but I won’t get into that here. I also won’t get into the hypocrisy of dry houses and drunken private parties in bars.

I think the bogus rules and increasing costs are what are really driving students away from the Greek system, not alcohol.

[mgdzkm433]

Forget rules for a moment. If you weren't in a sorority or a faternity at all, what would you do? You would go to the bars and have a designated driver. Plain and simple. If one of the NPC sororities banned the "sober sis" idea, than they probably are a dry sorority and can not have sorority functions that involve alchohol, which means, if they are having a social gathering and report that to their sorority--no alcohol will be present. If they are drinking at a social function, it has nothing to do with their sorority. The two don't even go together. The individual is liable, not the sorority. If they drive drunk, that is their own fault. Even if the sorority banned a "sober sis" policy, that doesn't mean that the sisters of that sorority can't do it on their own. They are smart enough to know that they should have a designated driver if they are drinking. As for rural areas, i went to a small college in a rural area where no taxi's exist either. People need to learn responsibility. There is no excuse for not having a designated driver. If nobody volunteers, than names should be pulled from a hat. If there is still a situation the party or event should not take place. Common sense should tell you that. If the town is dry, and you have to leave town to drink. . .what is the answer? Designated Driver! If a sorority or frat decide to drink and drive, they are irrisponsible people who are obviously not concerned with the safety of their sister/bros. or themselves. There should not even be a question about this topic. College students should have enough responsiblity and common sense to have a designated driver. If they don't, than they should go back home and live with mommy. It makes me upset that people argue with this theory. They are going to make sorority and frat. houses dry. Plain and simple. It's a fact that we have to live with. If you don't like it, take it up with you nationals. If you don't, you can't complain. If you do, and if your goal is not met, than live with the new policies and find ways to be responsible. The death rate should not go up because of the "sober sis" or "sober bro" policies, and if there isn't one in your frat or sorority, than you should be smart enough to create one for you individual chapter needs. Only stupid people do stupid things. Don't admit you're stupid by arguing against the point of having designated drivers just because you don't want the frat and sorority houses to go dry.

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"The trouble with self-made men is that they worship their creator."

--Unknown

[33girl]

WHAAAT?!?! I never said anything against having a des. driver, that is a given! This sorority I was talking about had the program for anything the sisters might be doing on weekends, it had nothing to do with chapter events. It was to give a ride home from bar, frat party, club, whatever. They administered the program through the chapter so everyone took their turn. My point was that to ban a program where the girls took RESPONSIBILITY for helping each other is messed up.

As for what I said about being in a rural area, the DD is a given there too.

My primary reason for being opposed to alcohol free housing is that I find it hypocritical. It makes people binge drink alone before they get to events. It says "alcohol is OK out of the house but evil in the house." The third party policies make the Greeks have to move to bars for private parties and can dry up social options for everyone else, making them even more antagonistic about Greeks.

If you talk the talk, walk the walk. If your national policy is going to ban alcohol in the house and take that much of an in loco parentis attitude, they'd better provide a way for you to get home if you drink outside the house or alternate desirable activities, which I have not seen happening.

[SilverTurtle]

My campus hasn't had greek houses since the early 70's. They now have designated halls in the dorms that brothers/sisters can live on if they choose.

So the idea of a "dry house" doesn't bother the chapters there. They have had to deal with this for years (you can't just walk the halls drinking, not to say this didn't occasionally happen). So their events and parties are held off campus. *One exception: the chapters do have chapter rooms in the dorms also, but their tiny. Mixers and rush parties are often held in these rooms when the chapter knows approximately how many people will be squeezed in there.*

The biggest party of the year is hosted by one of the frats. It's a Buffalo Bash, and is held off campus every year. They even make arrangements with the school to have a bus drive to and from the event in case anyone needs a ride. Most of the people I know just had designated drivers.

So you can still party, it just takes some more planning sometimes. Be creative.
I do think that adults should be allowed to have a drink in their home. But until the image of Greek life is turned around a little, we'll just have to suffer. I mean, if it comes down to possibly losing the housing, and the chapter existing at your school, isn't it worth it?

[awatters]

As an alternative to having no house, a dry house is a great idea. Having no alcohol in the chapter houses will cut down on the nightly intoxication that too many members engage in, and will reduce the negative stereotype of fraternities as Animal Houses. I can't wait. I don't drink, by the way.

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andrew watters
Theta Chi

[lizzie3d]

Sororities on my campus have been dry for as long as I can remember, and the fraternities are going dry one by one each year. Yeah, that means one of us might have to stay sober one night to drive people home because a party was off campus... so? Isn't that what sisterhood/brotherhood is all about? Taking care of each other? Dry houses have had no more problems rushing than the houses that haven't gone dry yet, and as a result of the dry policies, I think Greek life in general has gotten a more positive image on campus. There's nothing wrong with that.

[awatters]

Whenever my chapter has an activity off campus, we take a bus. That way no one has to drive home drunk. Isn't that what everyone does?

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andrew watters
Theta Chi

[mgdzkm433]

All parties are held off campus at my old school. We have no greek houses either. We live in a rural area, so our parties were always down by the river or in a field with a big bon-fire or we held them at a bro or sis apartment. Some people lived in houses (not frat or soror houses) and we had parties there. It isn't that hard to figure out where the parties were going to be and who was invited. After the party had been going for awhile, we all head over to the local pub. Our social chairs (each soror and frat have one at our school) got together and had meetings and decided who and where. Then we decided who would drive. If nobody volunteered, we drew names, and if that didn't work, we cancelled the event. If you live on a campus that has greek houses, maybe you should visit a chapter of your sorority or frat that doesn't have housing and see how the coordinate their events. That might be helpful. Many campuses nationwide don't have greek housing, they've gotten along fine and their numbers don't suffer. This new policy might affect those campuses with housing, but I don't think that it will hurt them badly. There will just be an adjustment period. My personal opinion is, if a frat or soror decide to drive drunk, they obviously don't care if they kill their bros or sisters or themselves. I wouldn't want someone who thinks that way in my sorority. I want to be a part of an orginization that watches out for each other and helps each other, not every man for himself. If you are greek and you drive drunk, you don't know what being greek is and you aren't a true bro or sister. That's my opinion. For those campuses out there that have housing, you didn't join to drink, you joined because you believe in what your orginization stands for. If it goes dry, get over it, it's not the important thing. The important thing is that you have your chapter, and you have your house. If you want to party, you'll find a way. You'll also learn a little more responsibilty in the process. If you still have a problem with it, you can't complain until you try to do something about it.

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"I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

--Julia Roberts
(Steel Magnolias)

[SAEalumnus]

The problem with a lot of political agendas in is the follow through. How many of you are actually dry houses now?