Drink Limits at Parties

[KSig RC]

With such wide disparities in ability to drink based on wide-ranging factors like weight, experience and metabolism, the only way you can make this work is to remove a numerical limit and instead enact the Feingold/Lil'John Standard of "Ball Till You Fall."

Glad I could help.

[lucgreek]

I always assumed sober brothers at fraternity events with alcohol was a given (considering it's a huge risk management situation if you don't)

[FleurGirl]

The way we've handled it in the past is to standardize the prices for drinks and have members pre-pay for drinks. You could do two different colors, one for mixed drinks and one for beers. They get tickets (like you would get from a raffle), and then they turn them in for drinks. That way you can monitor how many drinks each person can be sold without having to worry about it there.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by FleurGirl

The way we've handled it in the past is to standardize the prices for drinks and have members pre-pay for drinks. You could do two different colors, one for mixed drinks and one for beers. They get tickets (like you would get from a raffle), and then they turn them in for drinks. That way you can monitor how many drinks each person can be sold without having to worry about it there.

Pay for drinks?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Pay for drinks?

Many sororities have policies against open bars.

Drinks must be purchased, wristbands must be worn and so on.

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Many sororities have policies against open bars.

Drinks must be purchased, wristbands must be worn and so on.

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.

[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.

[FleurGirl]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Pay for drinks?

We don't do open bars, but this could work just as well with an open bar system. Just check IDs and pass out tickets to people over 21 as they walk in the door.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by FleurGirl

We don't do open bars, but this could work just as well with an open bar system. Just check IDs and pass out tickets to people over 21 as they walk in the door.

Personally, I see this as being cheap. (for fraternities)

[Drolefille]

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.

That doesn't surprise me, I just know that historically at least sorority risk management policies have seemed more stringent than fraternities' policies.

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Personally, I see this as being cheap. (for fraternities)

It's a risk management issue, not a cost one. However it's not really an effective risk management solution.

I will say I've never understood the appeal of "drink as much as you can all night long" as a party theme so I'm sure I'm not the target audience.

[annabella]

FleurGirl is talking about sorority events at a country club/event hall type place with third-party bartenders. The OP is likely talking about more impromptu gatherings at a fraternity house. Apples:Oranges.

Also drink tickets can be effective in a disciplined setting, but come on. Everyone would just trade tickets or make arrangements to get extra.