Alums and alcohol in chapter houses

honeychile · #1 09-03-2007, 11:59 AM

Our local "Super Alum" and I had a discussion about alcohol. She & her husband have a very active social life, and occasionally, she goes from someone's party to the chapter. She was wondering if she was wrong having even a glass of wine at the party, prior to going to the Suite. We decided that telling the chapter that she had come from a previous engagement which included wine with dinner was the best way to go.

As innocent as this reunion seems to have been, there seems to have been a lot of over-reaction on both sides. SA & her daughter knew better, and the GLO was right - but in defense of both sides, they ALL should remember to "pick their battles". A politely worded "of course, you know better" from the GLO and a politely worded, "I'm sorry, it will never happen again" would have saved a lot of angst in this case.

Tom Earp · #2 09-03-2007, 02:15 PM

What a shame all of this gets so over the top.

When I used to visit the house, I always stayed there with the guys.

Some other people seem to have a (THE) stick up somewhere.

UGAalum94 · #3 09-03-2007, 02:36 PM

No one should violate GLO policies, alum or otherwise. But GLO policies need to be communicated to alum members particularly if they might have changed since the alum was active.

That said, I can just as easily imagine that the correcting of SuperAlum was regarded as an opportunity to take her down a peg as I can imagine it was tactfully handled but SuperAlum overreacted in return. Since none of us were actually there, it seems unlikely that we'll ever know.

But I will say this, although I don't really think that anyone should be visibly intoxicated at even event*, I don't think that groups need to be weirdly Puritanical about their alcohol policies.

For liability reasons, a blanket policy about serving and consuming alcohol on the groups' property makes compete sense to me. Feeling obligated to abstain from drinking or explain your drinking because you anticipated going on the property later seems a little odd to me for members or alums over the age of 21.

*honestly, yes, even undergraduate members over 21 probably shouldn't be visibly liquored up at formals or whatever. But I understand that reality falls short of the ideal.

DeltAlum · #4 09-03-2007, 02:39 PM

A couple of questions occur to me.

Honestly, how many sorority houses are totally "dry?" Meaning nobody has a little bottle of something hidden in her room.

Is the national dry rule for the house (physical house) or the chapter(s)?

Does Nationals own the house, or the House Corporation?

If it's the House Corp, if there are no undergraduates present, is it still a sorority house? (Air Force One is not designated that if the President isn't on board.)

In the overall state of things (fair or not) some people are "more equal" than others. (Thank's, I think, to Mr. Orwell)

So, in the final analasys, is it worth losing a fairly influential alum for what would appear to be a very trivial thing?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Titchou · #5 09-03-2007, 02:51 PM

Because all NPC groups purchase their insurance from the same source - MJ Insurance - I can tell you that all NPC groups have a rule about no alcohol in the house. It is a condition of our coverege. Now, we all know that rules are broken all the time. But the rule is there.

macallan25 · #6 09-03-2007, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

A couple of questions occur to me.

Honestly, how many sorority houses are totally "dry?" Meaning nobody has a little bottle of something hidden in her room.

Is the national dry rule for the house (physical house) or the chapter(s)?

Does Nationals own the house, or the House Corporation?

If it's the House Corp, if there are no undergraduates present, is it still a sorority house? (Air Force One is not designated that if the President isn't on board.)

In the overall state of things (fair or not) some people are "more equal" than others. (Thank's, I think, to Mr. Orwell)

So, in the final analasys, is it worth losing a fairly influential alum for what would appear to be a very trivial thing?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I've been in some of the sorority houses down here often........and I have never seen even a hint of alcohol. Same with some other schools as well.

DeltAlum · #7 09-03-2007, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macallan25

I've been in some of the sorority houses down here often........and I have never seen even a hint of alcohol. Same with some other schools as well.

So they're either very smart (and good at hiding things) or they always obey the rules to the letter.

SWTXBelle · #8 09-03-2007, 07:11 PM

Or they don't drink in their rooms -they go to parties and bars for that!

dukedg · #9 09-03-2007, 08:25 PM

A couple of years ago a few UC Berkeley DG alums wanted to have a reunion at the house over the summer (they wanted to stay at the house a couple of nights, reminisce, etc.). We discussed it with our regional housing team and they were given the all clear as long as they did not bring or consume alcohol at the house. I'm not sure if the event ever happened, because I moved to LA shortly after.

I know in the past (60's or 70's?) the Berkeley chapter used to do a mother-daughter fashion show fundraiser and they would apply for and receive a waiver for alcohol to be served in the house. Of course, back then the drinking age was lower... I'm not sure when that rule changed, but I have never heard of anyone since I have been involved with DG getting a waiver or even applying for one (I pledged in 1997).

As far as I understand it, beyond being the fraternity's or sorority's policy, the ban on alcohol in the house is also part of the insurance agreement!

Taualumna · #10 09-09-2007, 09:55 PM

Couldn't they have gone to a restaurant or something that was NEAR the house? And then coffee and dessert at the house afterwards?

UGAalum94 · #11 09-09-2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taualumna

Couldn't they have gone to a restaurant or something that was NEAR the house? And then coffee and dessert at the house afterwards?

They could have, probably, but I don't think there's any reason to think that they knew they weren't supposed to have alcohol in the house, so it probably never occurred to them to do so.

Just to throw out these two cents: it's wrong to do anything that your GLOs policies forbid in the chapter house, but let's keep in mind that the real issue here is apparently about the kind of insurance the groups have.

There's nothing independently, morally wrong with a bunch of alumnae drinking wine in the chapter house, so nobody should really be on their moral high horse about the issue.

They just needed to tactfully explain that it was against the rules. Now, if she did know it was forbidden and did it anyway, I think the chapter is probably better off without her.

RU OX Alum · #12 09-10-2007, 11:58 AM

i would say "to hell with you all" as well

UGAalum94 · #13 09-10-2007, 05:30 PM

I agree that it might not be common knowledge.

I had no idea that there was a blanket NPC, insurance driven ban.

I knew that we couldn't have alcohol in our house back in the day, but I wouldn't have realized that it was a property based rule rather than an alcohol serving rule (like, having to employ bartenders who checked IDs or something).

Since I don't think there's anything weird or bad about people who are legally old enough drinking wine at dinner, I don't know that I would have known.

(On the other hand, I think someone else who served on a house committee would have known and mentioned it at the time, but who knows? Some people are freakily anti-confrontational.)