Drink Limits at Parties

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by LaneSig

Many fraternities have adopted policies against open bars or the chapter providing alcohol period. Risk Management Factors. If the chapter is providing the alcohol, they become responsible for the person who gets drunk and has/causes an accident.

I have not brushed up on the latest rules very recently, but my recollection is that any kind of registered party with invited guests and chapter-provided alcohol that is not distributed by third parties in accordance with local laws is a standard prohibition by all NIC organizations- and possibly others as well. This is addressed in great detail, right down to rules addressing loopholes like everyone in the chapter handing over $10 and someone using it to buy a ton of beer that is just left out in the open for anyone to grab.

Getting to the OP's example- either 4 or 6 beers is enough for any person to potentially exceed DWI limits depending on the period of time over which those drinks are consumed. So on the very correct legal logic LaneSig has posted, just having a policy limiting drinks is not enough to truly cover you.

What does offer some key cover- and also potentially saves lives- is to hire a taxi service to offer free rides home starting about 2 hours into the official start time of the party and until the point when you are going to shut it down. This is what we did when I was in school, and I would highly recommend it to any chapter that hosts parties at the house.

EW and others have already pointed out the many flaws in any kind of policy on alcohol distribution and intake limits. When I lived in the house in college, long before official parties started, those of us who lived there, plus other members who drove over for the evening, would get a head start in the bedrooms and also make refresh trips during. The paid-for alcohol provided by third party servers was for our guests of the female persuasion. Members were expected to take care of themselves. And don't even get me started on wristbands and controls over who else might be giving them out besides a third party bouncer checking IDs.

From a purely legal and technical perspective, you are never going to have a perfect result when trying to manage a group of college students who want to party- Greek or otherwise. It is important to make some effort, but it won't be the final answer.

The best practical answer is to provide everyone a way to get home safely, free of charge. To the OP- this is what I advise. Set your limit at 4 or 6- whatever you want. If underage people drink, you broke the law either way. If someone has 4 or 6 drinks in 2 hours and drives, they are at risk for a DWI accident or arrest.

But if you provide a free taxi service to get people home and have someone being forceful about taking away car keys when necessary- then you have something that can achieve the real goal of protecting your guests and the general public, from harm.