College to Alter Greek System; Kegs Restricted

By Alex Wilson | Wednesday, November 19, 1997

Dartmouth's Greek system may soon be altered beyond recognition. Safety and Security patrolling the halls, guest lists at the doors, and bartenders in the basements could be the norm at all Fraternity functions, if the recently released alcohol policy recommendations of the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs is implemented by Dean of the College Lee Pelton. Dean Pelton commissioned CCAOD to look into 'high risk' drinking and how to reduce its prevalence on campus. They have been preparing this report for roughly a year and a half.

The twenty page report presented five major recommendations designed to make 'alcohol play a less prominent role in the social lives of its [Dartmouth's] students.' The first recommendation was that every Coed Fraternity and Sorority (CFS) organization, or the CFS system as a whole, be required to develop a new alcohol-management proposal in line with College policy and state and federal law. Any organization failing to do so would be banned from serving alcohol. The second recommendation was that kegs be restricted to three per registered party, a maximum of twenty-four on campus at any one time, and completely banned over summer term. In addition to the limitations, stickers would replace tags as registered keg markers in an effort to lower abuses of this policy. Parties will also cease serving alcohol at 2 a.m. rather than 3 a.m.

The third suggests reinstating Safety and Security as monitors at all parties, replacing the 'peer monitoring' system currently in place. This is a return to the policy that was instituted in 1991 and eventually discontinued. The fourth suggests more rigid penalties for CFS organizations who violate the alcohol policy. The fifth recommendation, already implemented at the beginning of this term, was that Dick's House charges incurred for alcohol-related medical attention be reduced from $500 to $150.

The new 'alcohol management' policies required of CFS organizations are not given any guidance by the committee. But CFS members have suggested that they are most likely to focus around the notions of closed parties and the hiring of professional bartenders. Many students have expressed concern about the consequences of such policies.

One concern is that high risk drinking will be increased by the closing of parties, especially among freshman who will almost certainly be excluded from CFS functions for the entire year, rather than only in fall term. The general feeling is that if students are kept out of parties at CFS organizations, many will resort to drinking in their dorms under no supervision whatsoever. Zete Treasurer Kevin Robbins '98 said, 'By cracking down on the fraternities, I believe that the College is targeting the wrong audience. True, more drinking occurs in fraternities, but I would argue that it is on the average, it is a lower risk pool of drinkers. People drinking in the fraternities have more experience with alcohol than a bunch of freshman drinking beer in a dorm room. Additionally, limiting drinking in the fraternities will drive parties off-campus, which introduces the possibility of drunk driving incidents.'

Another concern is that the new regulations will force the cessation of open parties, and the consequent singular reliance on closed fraternity/sorority parties will contribute to social fragmentation on campus. The Greek system, critics argue, will become closed. The fraternities may also experience decreasing membership if new students rarely receive an opportunity to mix with current members and experience fraternity life.

The most straightforward of these recommendations focused on the keg policy. The rationale behind the changes is that kegs currently provide more than enough alcohol to facilitate 'high risk' drinking activities and promote underage drinking, especially over the summer when there are only a few students of legal drinking age on campus.

The committee apparently foresees no unfortunate consequences to this change. However, many fraternity members have expressed concerns that increased limitation on kegs will cause a compensatory increase in the number of canned beers in houses. Since this is considerably more expensive than the current keg arrangement, dues for fraternity members might have to be increased.

Certain members have speculated that this could result in an increasing distance between those who could afford to join a house and those who would no longer be able to. Entrance fees might also be charged at parties to avoid increasing dues.

The report also charges Safety and Security with resuming monitor activity at all CFS functions. In order to prevent the conflicts that occurred between party-goers and S&S officers in the past when this system was implemented the report recommends that any interference be 'treated with the utmost seriousness.' However, the effects of a Safety and Security presence have been experienced before and students appear to be far more concerned with what the report doesn't make clear.

The report fails to define Safety and Security's jurisdiction. It is unclear whether S&S officers will only be present during parties where alcohol is being served or if the report authorizes them to make random walk-through's as they do at the residence halls. The report only mentions a party presence although it uses S&S' s right in patrolling dorms as a method for comparison. The report is ambiguous about whether S&S may soon be walking through the doors of the fraternities on off nights without specific cause. Equally unclear is whether in the course of monitoring the houses, S&S has the right to search the houses for anything other than abuses of the alcohol policy. Many fraternity members feel this may be a violation of their rights. A fraternity member who asked to remain anonymous said that it is 'unconscionable for the College to look at the fraternities like residence halls and not like private homes.'

Less disturbing to the community at large, but perhaps most worrisome for the CFS organizations and their members, are the penalties to be incurred by those organizations for violations of the alcohol policy. Far stronger penalties are suggested by the committee which feels that the current fines and revocations of privileges are not nearly strong enough to discourage houses from breaking the College's policies.

What those penalties should be is not specifically outlined in the report. However, a plan has been mentioned and has gained support among the committee with the following provisions: any CFS organization found to be in violation of the policy would be prohibited from holding rush for one year. Fraternity members asked about this issue said that such an action nearly amounts to a death sentence. They find it doubtful that any organization could recover from such a blow. A second violation would incur derecognition. The present penalty for a keg violation is a $200 fine per keg and a two week social suspension.

Students also lamented the lack of certain other initiatives.

Adrian Durbin '98, President of Psi Upsilon, said, 'I recognize the College's responsibility to attempt to cut down on underage drinking. I would have preferred to see a recommendation for an alcohol education program to be implemented, in addition to the other recommendations.'

Yesterday, the Student Assembly sponsored a panel discussion to help inform the student body about the report. Unfortunately, there were a large number of students who felt that the panelists, all members of the committee, were not completely forthcoming. The House Manager of one fraternity said, 'Answers to questions were not given and they were avoided. Nothing important was said.'

The panelists did make it clear that CFS houses that are recognized by the college but are privately owned will not be immune to Safety and Security oversight and patrolling.

Daniel Nelson, Head of the Upperclass Dean's Office, said 'Recognized College organizations are part of the campus and will be viewed as part of the campus.'

The panel also made clear the circumstances under which S&S would be justified in entering CFS houses. Aside from their presence during registered parties, S&S would investigate when a complaint was made or when there was suspicion of an unregistered party in progress. Several students note that, since S&S can file their own complaints, this amounted to granting a carte blanche to officers to search the houses. The committee members said that the motivation behind the report was the College's unsatisfactory legal position under the current system, rather than any social or health concerns. Sean Gorman, chairman of CCAOD, said that the problem with the current alcohol policy was that, 'We have certain legal obligations and we're not doing a very good job of complying.'

Dean of the College Lee Pelton, though not a member of the panel, also answered a few questions regarding administration policy.

The central issue was the consequences that would be incurred by a CFS organization that removed itself from the College system and became completely independent. His response was that, at this time, Dartmouth students would not be allowed to live in the house of such an organization.

A number of students felt that Dean Pelton's responses were not entirely compatible with Mr. Gorman's and the recommendations proposed by the committee. One fraternity social chair maintained that, 'If their concerns are really the legal ramifications then they should allow fraternities to separate themselves from the College. If their concerns are truly the drinking, then they should ask themselves which is better: a student who consciously and maturely manages his own drinking habits or one who doesn't drink because of oppressive regulations.'

The Student Assembly is planning to provide a continued forum for discussion about these issues. Case Dorkey IV, Vice President for Administration and Public Relations, commented that 'these recommendations are going to cause negative incentives for student behavior. I think there are better ways of enforcing an alcohol policy and I look forward to hearing ideas from the student body about how to handle the alcohol policy and social life in general.'

Dorkey moderated the panel. Student discussions are planned for all CFS houses and residential clusters next week.

Dean Pelton will make the final decision on whether to implement some or all of the recommendations. He has expressed a willingness to hear student input regarding the report, while saying that he strongly supports its findings. It remains unclear when the final decision will be made.

College to Alter Greek System; Kegs Restricted

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