Changing Greek System - University Relations

[phidelt]

Our chapter is a part of a large greek system, I won't disclose the location. The university that I attend has a party reputation. The entire relationship between the university administration and the leadership of fraternities and sororities in terms of alcohol policies and drinking is backwards.

Both sides claim that they are interested in the safety of students, but what they say and what they do are different. The university is cracking down on all alcohol consumption and disciplining fraternities and sororities for violations.

In the past the University only intervened in fraternity or sorority matters in case of major incidents, such as someone getting hurt (assault) or sick (alcohol poisoning), or doing something reckless (Vandalism). And even then, in most cases they would target disciplinary action against individuals rather than the entire organization. Now they are using facebook photos of two people having beers, or noise complaints for disciplinary action against the entire organization.

These policies although aimed at keeping students from drinking and staying safe is actually leading to students drinking underground and it is becoming more dangerous. Rather than focusing on safety of students, greek organizations are focusing on not being caught. This has led to more incidents of alcohol related sickness or injury on campus.

I am a leader in many parts of campus and have spoken to other greek leaders in other organizations, my views are shared by them and we want to do something to change the status quo. I know the easy answer will be stop drinking and follow the rules, trust me when I say this is not a viable option. On this campus, students will party even after every fraternity and sorority charter has been revoked.

Greek Organizations provide safety to students in the form of a sober monitored environment were students should be able to come for a fun time without fearing that they will be taken advantage of. At all of our functions we have several sober monitors making sure that people are not drinking too much, and that they have a sover ride home. Other greek organizations on campus do the same. However when we are forced to focus on preventative measures from being caught by the University, it takes away from our ability to insure the safety of our guests.

I think that if the University agreed not to prosecute individuals or greek organizations for minor alcohol related violations, then the greek organizations would be fine to let university officials monitor the events. If the University agreed to this, it would lead to a safer environment without costing the University anything. They loose nothing, and gain safety for students.

Do you think that this is a viable option? If so, what is the best way to go about making this change happen?

I know on some other campuses, campus police walk through fraternity parties and do not prosecute alcohol related violations, the police are there to make sure things are under control and nobody gets hurt. I would like to see a similar system in place on our campus.

[daniellekathryn]

I don't know if this is remotely an option for your campus, but on my campus we can only have events at "third party vendors," so the venue can monitor who is drinking and how much, which helps to curtail some underage drinking and safety issues. We are also required to have designated drivers and actually get buses pretty often.

Don't know if that helps at all, but our campus is pretty strict too.