Quote:
Originally Posted by SAEalumnus
Having alcohol at a rush event was absolutely forbidden when I was an undergrad. Has this changed?
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When I was an undergrad in the late 1970s at Kentucky, the fall and spring formal rush events were officially wet.
As I recall, some of the first IFC rules at UK regarding serving alcohol at a rush event were first implemented around then. Originally, you could serve any beverage in any type of container. Often there would be kegs and or coolers both in the house and outside of it. Then, and I think it was my sophomore year, the IFC said no cans or bottles at all. (I think a bottle smashed and some co-ed cut her foot the semester before.) Beer, mixed drinks, soft drinks, and "punch" had to be served in an opaque plastic cup. And you could not leave the property (yard) with any beverage. (Before, you could go from one house to the other with your cup.) I believe it was the next semester or year that the IFC added a rule that alcohol/beer could only be served in the house. It was around then that the IFC implemented that you had to be a UK student - or on the fraternity's guest list - to attend. Also, you could not drink in front of the house. However, you could still drink in the back on on a deck. (Since beverages had to be served in opaque cups, this meant any beverage least a cop or someone come around and question you.) Then I think it was my senior year, the IFC added that beverages could only be consumed in the house. In other words, no decks or back yards and only students and fraternity guests (mainly alumni) could attend. Also, you could not walk out of the physical house and into the yard with any cup/beverage. All beverages were to be confiscated when leaving. University Police were positioned around the fraternities to check people's cups for alcohol. At the time, it was ok to drink in the house/on the chapter's property if you were at least 18. But if you were caught "in the streets" drinking, (even sober) that could be grounds for unlawful public drinking. Or something like that.
As I recall, the main reason for these rules were simply to cut back on trash in the yard. And to keep the noise level down somewhat. Somewhere during this time, a party end time (11 p.m.?) was implemented. But that just meant the "official" party ended.
For what it is worth, official rush events at UK are now dry. I think the change happened around the late 1990s when the whole UK campus went dry.