Beta to enact no-alcohol policy

Beta Theta Pi has a brand-new house with, what is for them, a revamped policy: no alcohol.\nSteve Veldkamp, associate dean of student activities, said alcohol is a problem that many fraternities face, despite IU’s “dry campus” policy, and now Beta is actually enforcing that policy.\nTo keep their new $4.7 million house safe and clean, it will be kept dry, chapter president Greg Baumer said.\n“I think (the policy) is great because most people think that fraternities are just drinking clubs,” Interfraternity Council President Mike Piermont said. “But when you look deeper, they’re \nreally not.”\nMen accepting bids at Beta this year will be doing it for the right reasons, Piermont said. He also said alcohol is no longer as big of a problem for IU fraternities than it was in the past. Most fraternities have already “started to slow it down and be more responsible.”\n“My sense is that fraternities are being more responsible, but (alcohol) is still definitely a big problem,” Veldkamp said.\nAfter losing their charter in 2001, Beta Theta Pi’s members and alumni knew the fraternity had to come back with a cleaner act.\nBeta Theta Pi answered with policy, chapter counselor Charles McCormick said.\n“I don’t like to think of college as training grounds for alcoholism and drug abuse,” McCormick said. “Alcohol abuse \ncorrupts education.”\nBaumer said the policy will also “foster greater brotherhood” and change the “just partying” reputation of the Greek community \non campus.\n“Establishing a culture – that takes time,” Baumer said.\nIU’s famous drinking culture is one that not everyone believes can be so easily changed.\n“I don’t know if it will have a broader effect on the drinking culture of campus because it’s more of a societal issue,” Veldkamp said.\nIU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said he doesn’t think there is enough interaction between the fraternities to cause one to follow Beta’s lead without some sort of reward system.\nEven without the policy, IU is still a “dry campus,” meaning it does not allow alcohol possession or consumption on any of its property, including fraternities, with very few exceptions.\nMinger said that though he has heard of a “movement” among campus fraternities toward less illegal drinking and “hope(s) that initiative is sincere,” there has been no significant rise or fall in the numbers of underage \ndrinkers.\nHowever, IUPD officers rarely pick up underage drinkers at fraternity houses because they are considered private residences and cannot be searched without probable cause, \nMinger said.\nBut, he said, fraternities often get “negative publicity” because they are part of a specific group, and fraternities are “no more flagrant than any other individual class of people in the IU community.”\nThe plan will be enforced through “self-governance” in which brothers watch out for other brothers. Baumer said as president he doesn’t plan to “babysit,” but said instead the policy is based on “instilling trust” and all the live-in members of Beta “buying into” an alcohol-free residence. As of yet, the consequences are still being considered, he said.\n“It’s hard to say (if the policy will be effective) if they’re asking for voluntary compliance,” Minger said. “We as police have asked for voluntary compliance with illegal drinking ... sometimes, as you can see from the arrest log, that doesn’t work.\n“You hope for voluntary compliance, but without any consequences, it’s hard to say whether that’s going to \nbe effective.”\nDrinking shouldn’t be an issue because members just have to commit to staying alcohol-free in the residence and can still drink legally off-campus at bars or house parties, Baumer said. Since they haven’t had a house until recently, that’s what older members are used to doing anyway, Baumer said.\n“Time will tell, but I think (this policy) has a very good chance because they can govern themselves a lot more internally than, say, IFC or the University can,” Piermont said.\nMinger said if Beta Theta Pi live-in members succeed in their endeavor, they “will be looked upon as a very sincere, upstanding group of men.” But, if they fail, he doesn’t “see how anyone could view them as a sincere governing body.”\nBaumer said new members will help “create an infrastructure (that) supports \nresponsibility.”\n“It’s going to be a challenge, but ultimately it’s better,” \nhe said.