Drink Limits at Parties

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

At Arkansas, every fraternity must have "party-martials" for every registered party.

Generally, these people are pledges or members who have done some wrong when there are no pledges. (except for Lambda Chi, I think they make members do it)

Anyways, they act as sober bouncers but can get drunk once the registered party ends (and the real party begins).

There's a solution^. There's also Vandals suggestion of hiring a third party bartender...then they get to make the call and no brother has to get involved.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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)

[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.

[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.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

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

Oh I understand the intended mitigation that was sought.

I'm saying that if I went to a party where they handed out drink tickets, I would see it as being cheap...not a risk management solution.

UofA Greek Life doesn't charge a cover or whatever for any of it's parties and hopefully never will.

[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.

[ErinBee]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

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.

Exactly. You can't stop people from drinking but you can prevent them from getting in a car and killing themselves or others on the road.

We had a "Dri Chi" system at my chapter. Sisters volunteered to be a designated driver to anyone of our members that needed a ride in town. We had one every night, two on Thursdays (the party night) and about four for date parties even when we usually had buses. Parents and local police knew about our system and praised us for it. Unfortunately, HQ has since passed the word down that we can no longer use it, even if the drivers sign waivers.

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by ErinBee

Unfortunately, HQ has since passed the word down that we can no longer use it, even if the drivers sign waivers.

Yeah, shuttling is a huge risk management issue. My university has had a lot of issues with it, and one fraternity is facing major legal action because of an indecent. (I would cite it but I can't find anything besides the university paper which is a piece of journalistic trash)

[33girl]

Isht like this makes me crazy. Just don't write it down or discuss it at meetings. Your sister's immediate safety is the thing that's the most important. If you just "decided" to stay sober and other sisters "decided" to do the same, other nights, on their own, there's really nothing anyone can do about it.

It's a sad state of affairs when a truly sisterly/brotherly gesture is eradicated because a jackass insurance company tells you to do so.

Taxis are great but not an option for everywhere. We were happy to find out that our college town now has two taxi services - but that kind of went in the toilet when we found out they stopped running after 11 PM. UNLESS you make a reservation for later, and I believe you may have had to give a credit card # as well.