Greek parties to restrict hard alcohol

As of Oct. 22, only 12 handles of hard liquor are allowed at greek parties. After midnight, all liquor will be locked away.

A handle is equal to about 42 standard 1.5-oz. shots. With the new rules, all greek partygoers will be able to drink a total of about 512 shots before midnight.

The new rules were formally introduced at a Joint Gavel discussion between the presidents of all 33 IU fraternities and 21 sororities Oct. 22.

All 33 fraternity chapters must now comply with the new alcohol regulations at all of their social events.

The IFC Presidents’ Council developed the policy, and the IFC Executive Board will enforce it, IFC President Sean Jordan said.

The policies were enforced during Homecoming Week as a test run for a program, he said. The final version of these policies is still in the works.

“We recognized a lot of unhealthy behavior going on in the greek community and IUB as a whole,” Jordan said. “We want to lower the BACs and promote a healthier culture.”

In order to limit drinks, many fraternities implement bartenders who pour drinks and determine whether party attendees have reached their limits.

Recent student deaths might have been a contributing factor, Jordan said, but no single event spurred the changes.

Jordan said IFC policy already bans underage drinking, but the freshman attendee policy has been reemphasized. No non-greek freshmen, male or female, are allowed at fraternity parties.

“This is a safety measure,” Jordan said. “Freshmen aren’t accustomed to college, especially greek culture.”

Alpha Sigma Phi President and sophomore Erik Bailey said the policies address a serious problem with IU’s drinking culture.

“If you go to other colleges, you only see beer,” Bailey said. “It’s a problem when you come to IU and see everyone pounding shots.”

For some fraternity members, the new rules are a step in the right direction. But others say the rules will make the problem even worse.

The limited drinking time could make drinking more dangerous, said Tau Kappa Epsilon Risk Manager and junior Sam Kapitan.

Because of the limited time hard alcohol is offered at parties, some greek students believe the regulations could lead to increased pre-gaming before parties.

“Parties usually start at 10 p.m., and eventually people will learn that they only have about two hours to drink,” Kapitan said. “People will probably start drinking a lot faster.”

Last year, IFC had one weekend each semester where no hard alcohol was allowed. The new regulations are a continuation of that, Jordan said.

“We aren’t too concerned,” Jordan said. “People might be inclined to drink more, but the number of quantities will be drastically limited.”

Fraternities are enforcing these rules internally, Jordan said. The IFC Executive Board is asking all chapters to inform the board if they see that other fraternities aren’t upholding the policies.

Members of each chapter’s executive board, along with risk managers and sober brothers and sisters, are observing the parties and enforcing these rules, Jordan said.
“We will hold each chapter directly accountable for this,” Jordan said. “We’re going to make ourselves apparent at these functions.”

Some IFC members, including Bailey and Phi Sigma Kappa President and junior Jimmy Blodget, agree with these new rules.”

These new policies stem from the fact that there is a problem on the campus,” Blodget said. “It can be difficult to change a culture overnight, and there could be unintended
consequences.”

Because these regulations are new, IFC will have to wait to see how all of these factors will play out, Blodget said.

“IFC is trying to create a culture of care, and I don’t think anyone can argue that is a good thing for this campus,” Blodget said.

Bailey also stands in favor of these changes.

“We are all trying to create a cultural change at IU, and IFC is going to lead the way with this,” Bailey said. “Hopefully the entire campus will change.”

Though the bartender can help eliminate binge drinking, Kapitan said he is still concerned about pre-gaming.

“When you only have 12 bottles ... I don’t see how people are going to follow that,” Kapitan said. “I don’t see it working out in the long term. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Pre-gaming is a concern, but Bailey said he thinks it is the sororities’ responsibility not to pre-game beforehand.

Another concern about the new rules is the storage of hard liquor in bedrooms of  after midnight.

Sigma Pi member and senior Peter Hull said he believes the rules will increase unsafe drinking.

“If people store hard liquor in their rooms and end up drinking it past midnight, there is no one around to look out for one another,” Hull said. “You can’t cut anyone off.”

Bailey acknowledged this concern.

“When guys have it in their rooms and they invite girls up, it’s a big problem,” Bailey said. “The chance of sexual assault drastically increases.”

Another concern is the number of upperclassmen who leave at midnight to go to bars to continue drinking, Hull said.

“At midnight, it’s immediate,” Hull said. “The seniors are gone.”

Hull said he believes these changes are a knee-jerk reaction to the recent student deaths.

“What happened was awful and tragic, but this is the first time it has happened in years,” Hull said. “These actions are a overreaction.”

Hull said though he believes pre-gaming will increase, he and his Sigma Pi brothers are prepared.

“We know how to contact an emergency response team, and we’ll let the sober brothers and sisters know,” Hull said. “That’s the worse case scenario, but houses all over campus need to see this as a potential situation with more pre-gaming.”

Kapitan said he believes instead of implementing new rules, alcohol education and awareness should be increased.

“IFC should partner with IU Health every year and build awareness with each pledge class,” Kapitan said. “The greek community needs to be educated as a whole.”

Follow reporter Tori Lawhorn on Twitter @ToriLawhorn.