The changing party scene

As a freshman, Conor Daly went from one registered party to another until early in the morning. He'd usually start on Locust Walk, visiting St. Anthony's and Sigma Chi, then maybe off to Alpha Epsilon Pi and Pi Kappa Phi.

On any given weekend night, he might visit up to five fraternity houses and run into nearly all of his friends.

That was 1999 -- the debut of the current system for party registration on campus.

"We thought they were great," said Daly, a 2003 College graduate and former InterFraternity Council president. "There'd be lines out the door everywhere."

Daly would have a more difficult time finding that many registered parties now.

In the six years since the policy has been in place, the number of registered events has dropped 12 percent. On-campus registered events -- those not held at bars and clubs -- have decreased 61 percent, data compiled by the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life show.

Penn began registering parties shortly after 26-year-old alumnus Michael Tobin fell to his death at the Phi Gamma Delta house, formerly located at 3619 Locust Walk, after a night of heavy drinking in the spring of 1999.

After the death, Tobin's family sued both the University and the company responsible for maintenance of the staircase from which he fell. The family originally sought $5 million and later settled out of court.

Although administrators say the social scene has become safer, some students believe that dangerous drinking habits have simply shifted off campus.

Fewer hosts

Administrators and students disagree on the main reasons for the decline in party registration.

Officials say the primary reason is a decreasing number of organizations eligible to throw parties. That's due to an increased focus on safety and responsibility, according to Director of Alcohol Policy Initiatives Stephanie Ives.

Ives was specifically hired by the University after Tobin's death to address alcohol use on campus.

In 2003, the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and the Sigma Delta Tau sorority lost their charters and were suspended for a year due to alcohol violations. The Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity and the Delta Delta Delta sorority were also put on probation after violating the alcohol policy at co-hosted, unregistered, off-campus parties.

In the fall of 2002, the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority disbanded due to low membership numbers.

These organizations registered nearly 40 events from 1999 to 2000.

In July of 2000, four fraternities became alcohol-free in accordance with policies mandated by their national organizations.

In the same year, the National Panhellenic Conference ruled that sororities could no longer hold "mixer" parties with non-dry fraternities in their own chapter houses. There were 35 mixers registered the year before the ruling.

"It's not about desire to register a party. It's about chapters becoming ineligible to register a party," Ives said.

"The myth that having a registered event is just too hard or the paperwork is too cumbersome, I think the social chairs would probably tell you that that's not the case at all."

Higher Costs

But cost certainly factors into the equation.

At a co-hosted Sigma Chi and Delta Kappa Epsilon beach party several weeks ago, students flashed IDs to a $100 doorman and drank $2 Corona Lights handed to them by two $25-per-hour bartenders while listening to Blind Spot, a $1,000-cover band.

It all adds up to more than $2,300 worth of expenses. Several past and present fraternity presidents cite high cost as the key factor in the decrease in on-campus party registration.

Pi Kappa Phi spends $700 to $1,000 and Sigma Alpha Epsilon spends about $2,000 to host their events, the fraternities' presidents said.

"You can't have kegs. You have to have cans of beer. Right there, you blow your bottom line," Daly said.

When he was an underclassman, fraternities would frequently charge guests $3 to $5 at the door, enabling them to afford throwing parties every weekend. Although this was technically illegal, since chapter houses are not licensed for the sale of alcohol, Daly said that the University did not strictly enforce the rules during his early years at Penn.

Former Alpha Chi Rho Treasurer Scott Rownin, a 1997 Wharton and Engineering graduate, remembers when his fraternity would charge $5 for students to enter its parties.

The fraternity typically raised enough money to break even, allowing it to throw monthly parties.

"We couldn't spend that much money to throw a party on a Friday night just for the hell of it," Rownin said.

Charging money to enter registered fraternity parties is now prohibited under University regulations.

Bars and Clubs

Student groups can, however, charge money to throw a party at a Center City dance club.

The wall projections and dancing 10-foot marionette at European-style night club TPDS may not evoke images of a typical fraternity party, but students are increasingly drawn to such venues for registered events.

Student groups -- about half of which are Greek -- book events at the 114 S. 12th St. nightclub two to four times per month, TPDS manager Rustin Ohler said.

Registered events at bars and clubs have increased 48 percent over the past six years.

"If I had to think of a typical fraternity event, I would picture a group of 18- to 20-year-olds crammed into a house with kegs and beer pong," Ohler said. "Having it at a nightclub or bar provides a little more class."

Bars and clubs can be a less costly alternative to on-campus parties because many expenses are packaged together. He said an average party may cost $1,500 to $2,000, including an open bar.

"There's not as much planning, and you could do it for a little less money and reduce some of your liability," Sigma Chi President Matt Berman said.

Non-Greeks

And these days, Greeks aren't the only ones throwing parties.

The number of registered events thrown by non-Greek student organizations has tripled in the past six years -- from 19 in 1999-2000 to 57 in 2004.

Senior Class President Pierre Gooding credits a greater awareness of the need to register events and an increase in near-campus venues for the change. The Senior Class Board has been responsible for more registered events than any other non-Greek organization over the past six years.

Ives says that there has been a consistent effort to inform non-Greeks that they must register events.

Gooding added that student organizations are just beginning to realize the benefits of using registered parties to promote themselves and to take a more prominent place in the social scene.

"If you only go to fraternity parties, you're only going to meet a certain group of people," Gooding said. "It's incredibly important that non-Greek organizations have events and that they're well-attended."

The Underground

Though registered parties may draw a crowd when they occur, College freshman Chris Howell said that most students know that the only sure place to find a party on any given Saturday night is west of 40th Street.

Howell has been to one registered party, at which he stayed for about four minutes.

"If I had a fake [ID], I'd say it would be awesome," Howell said. Students must be 21 years old to drink at registered parties.

Instead, Howell attends off-campus parties because alcohol is often readily available to underage students.

While students typically crowd around kegs, bottles of cheap vodka and trash cans full of "jungle juice" -- typically a mixture of fruit punch and alcohol -- are consumed as well.

The lack of oversight for these parties creates an anything-goes atmosphere.

"You don't know what's in it," Howell said. "Someone could have vomited in it for all you know."

Despite one bad experience drinking jungle juice during New Student Orientation, Howell is not deterred.

He continues to attend off-campus parties every weekend.

Daly said that the introduction of registered parties coincided with a "flagrant" increase in "underground" parties with more risky behavior.

Sigma Phi Epsilon brother and 2002 College graduate Aaron Tidman noticed more underground parties, as well as a significant increase in police enforcement, after the policy changed.

"The police were a lot more wary of parties on campus." Tidman said. "They really put a huge damper on the social scene."

Police responded to 211 incidents of loud music and parties in 2004 and 131 incidents so far this year, Division of Public Safety data indicates. Data for previous years was not available because of a change in computer systems.

However, University officials paint a safer picture of the post-1999 social scene.

There is now less risky behavior, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Scott Reikofski and Office of Student Conduct Director Michele Goldfarb said.

Neither of the administrators -- who have been at Penn for over a decade -- said there is a correlation between the number of registered parties and the number that are held off campus.

"There have been off-campus parties forever and ever," Goldfarb said, "and I don't predict that even if we have a huge number of registered parties on campus, you're going to have any fewer off-campus parties. Students love to throw parties, and they'll do them in every which way they possibly can."

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