UNL greek system focuses on liability issues as alcohol deterrent

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UNL greek system focuses on liability issues as alcohol deterrent
By JENNA JOHNSON / Daily Nebraskan
April 18, 2005

It’s hard to pinpoint when “Animal House” ended in Nebraska.

Maybe it was in 1988, when a 17-year-old woman was raped in a fraternity house.

Or in 1993, when a freshman pledge fell out a fraternity window, after being held down and forced to drink alcohol.

Or in 1998, when NU Directions, a coalition to reduce high-risk drinking, was formed.

Most likely, it was a combination of all of these that killed the greek life shown in the movies.

Stop the tape and press eject, university officials told the greek system; it’s too expensive to keep this party going. There’s no rewinding, no reliving the days when only a keg of beer was needed to have a good time.

The terms “liability and lawsuit” replaced “alcohol and fraternities,” and many frats fought for their right to drink in their houses – a right they never had, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s dry campus status.

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Matt Ellis graduated in December, becoming a Delta Tau Delta Fraternity alum.

Ellis was part of a pledge class that saw greek life at its best and worst.

He remembers freshman year, when his fraternity would hold drinking parties on the third floor, hiding if the lookout spotted a community service officer – and getting away with parties night after night.

“They would come in and there was no flipping way they didn’t know what was going on,” said Ellis, who now works as an aid for a state senator. “Everybody’s got that story. It was a ‘wet campus’ and it was just ridiculous. It was fun … but you asked yourself, ‘How do people not just die every day?’ ”

But by his senior year, dry campus enforcements became so harsh that if guys were found drinking beer in their room, the house risked losing its charter.

Ellis’ class was the last of that generation of greeks – a population that is graduating and taking their memories with them. New pledge classes are taking their spots, a new breed of fraternity members that can’t fathom partying in the house and getting away with it.

But even though the changes originally were met with opposition, in the end, Ellis said, the changes have been for the best – houses are cleaner, it’s easier to study and fewer guys are getting in trouble or hurt. If anything, the feeling of brotherhood has increased, he said.

“Even if it’s a dry campus, even if they can’t beer bong in the hallway, they can still have the college experience,” he said.

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Greek houses probably still aren’t completely dry – there are likely bottles hiding in the backs of closets or flasks in dresser drawers, said James Griesen, vice chancellor for Student Affairs.

“I am sure if we did an instant search, we would find a large amount of booze,” Griesen said. “But it’s a far cry from what it used to be.”

Community service officers can enter a fraternity at any time by knocking or entering through any door they find open, including fire escapes, said David Peace, security operations supervisor.

“We just can’t go through windows,” he said.

If an officer is denied entrance, a report is written up and given to Greek Affairs – the most common problem Peace said the greek system has.

Once inside, CSOs need not be escorted and can search any public space that’s not a sleeping area or restroom. But if there’s evidence the Student Code of Conduct or a law is being broken, CSOs can go almost anywhere they need to.

Sororities only receive a perimeter check. If a door is found open, the sorority is contacted and asked if they would like a walk through, an offer they don’t have to accept, Peace said.

For the most part, CSOs don’t find many problems in greek houses, he said. In a 30-day period, one or two reports may be filed against a fraternity member. Peace said he doesn’t think the sororities have ever gotten into trouble.

Matthew Hecker, director of student judicial affairs, said he usually only has one greek house violation a year – and hasn’t had one yet this semester.

Hecker’s policy is that if a house’s leadership comes clean about an event, he’ll punish the students directly involved rather than go after the whole house.

Officer Dave Dibelka, UNL’s education and personnel officer, said the University Police Department’s goal is to keep all students safe.

“It’s not that we pick on the greek houses or the residence halls … we go to where we are called to,” he said. “It’s not a storm trooper thing.”

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Although Greek Affairs agreed on the rights of CSOs, many greek members say there still is tension between the officers and fraternity members.

Ellis said he understands fraternities have to be held to the same standards as residence halls, but fraternity houses have a more private atmosphere than the public lounges of the halls.

“It’s a public area but to us it feels like our private area,” Ellis said. “So, there’s some tension there.”

Kyle Arganbright, who was president of Sigma Phi Epsilon for two years, said his fraternity had to file three formal complaints against CSOs while he lived in the house. One of those times involved a CSO seeing an empty Jimmy John’s cup sitting on the staircase, assuming it once held alcohol and making the house director wake up at 3 a.m. to handle the situation, which Arganbright said didn’t result in anything being found or anyone getting in trouble.

“Most of the time they are extremely cordial and they know why they are there,” said Arganbright, a fifth-year agriculture economics major. “Sometimes you’ll get someone who’s aggressive and wants to sneak in.”

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But CSO enforcement isn’t the only motivation for houses to become completely dry – most changes come because of one tragic event and the financial responsibility following it.

“Programming can make some changes,” said Robert Joseph, UNL Interfraternity Council graduate advisor and recent UNL graduate. “But insurance and our society of litigation can do so much more overnight.”

UNL’s “big event” was in November 1993, when Jeff Knoll, a 19-year-old UNL student, fell from a third-floor window of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity while reportedly climbing down a drainpipe to escape hazing. Knoll suffered a head injury and memory loss, and his parents sued the university but settled out of court.

“It was a landmark case,” Griesen said. “The courts are now far less likely to say there’s no university responsibility.”

Insurance rates for greek houses have skyrocketed, said Jonathan Gayer, project coordinator of Greek Re-Evolution, a program which helps houses become healthier greek environments.

Gayer said when he started college in the early 1990s in New Mexico, he was paying about $75 in premiums each year. By the time he left school, those premiums where at $300.

So, if a fraternity has a major alcohol violation or incidence in its house, it’s usually shut down immediately because the national chapter can’t afford the risk of keeping it open, he said.

“International fraternities can’t keep doling out millions and millions of dollars for stupid decisions,” Gayer said.

Having a greek system also is a liability for the university campuses hosting them.

In 1997, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student died from alcohol poisoning at his fraternity’s “Animal House Night” and the university had to pay a $4.75 million settlement to the family, in addition to a $1.25 million contribution to a scholarship fund.

Griesen said UNL looked at the liability its greek system created, but decided to “embrace and control” the system rather than let it loose off-campus.

Tom Workman, assistant director of NU Directions, said there is a nationwide movement for universities to eliminate their greek systems. But that probably would never happen at UNL, Workman said, because of the abundance of support for the greek system and the number of UNL administrators who had positive greek experiences.

Workman said greek houses have earned their “tarnished reputation” by consistently ranking near the top of high-risk drinking surveys. If the greek system, especially fraternities, doesn’t change its ways, he said, the university is just looking at a large liability.

“Is this about brotherhood or a drinking club?” he said. “Can a university ever support a drinking club when half of its members are minors?”

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All those extra costs are falling on the shoulders of fewer fraternity members.

While enrollment in sororities steadily has increased in recent years, fraternity numbers are dwindling, said Linda Schwartzkopf, director of UNL’s Greek Affairs.

She said fraternities are losing members for a number of reasons: heavy drinkers don’t feel like they fit in anymore, responsible students are scared away by the stereotypes, high-risk members are kicked out quickly and the residence hall communities are growing in popularity.

“There’s definitely an image problem or a perception problem with fraternities,” Schwartzkopf said. “The first thing you think of is ‘Animal House.’”

Joseph, council graduate adviser, said fraternities still are working to change that “Animal House” culture. But every time a fraternity anywhere in the country messes up – or Tommy Lee films a reality show at UNL and forms his own fraternity – the houses get set back at least 25 years, he said.

“In the public’s eye,” he said, “we haven’t really moved that far at all.”