Penn monitors off-campus parties

After buying red cups and inviting friends on Facebook, speaking to Penn Police may be next on your party to-do list.

The Division of Public Safety is working with the Vice Provost for University Life to improve safety by taking a more proactive approach to off-campus parties by opening a dialogue with students.

The conversations between DPS, VPUL and students have been primarily focused on safety, liability and responsibility. Both DPS and VPUL aim to prevent hospital visits or alcohol-related violations by reaching out to students before parties occur, said Julie Lyzniski Nettleton, director of Penn’s Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives.

“Our conversations have been geared toward encouraging students to be proactive in preventing these high risk situations, while making sure that they realize the resources that are available to them throughout the process,” she wrote in an email.

Accordingly, Police Chief Mark Dorsey said that they aim to have a “partnership” with off-campus houses and students hosting parties.

However, while both DPS and VPUL said they have received positive responses and cooperation from students, some have been surprised by their approach.

After one Penn student decided to host a “pregame event” at her off-campus house where she lives with four sorority members and three other roommates, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs reached out to the president of the sorority in which her roommates were members.

According to the student — who wished to remain anonymous to avoid association with the party — OFSA informed the sorority president that the party was “on their list of things going on during NSO,” and that because two girls in the same sorority lived in the house, it could be viewed as a sorority-sponsored event.

The student expressed surprise, as the party would be “pretty tame,” and the guest list included “almost entirely seniors,” with the majority of guests being over 21. However, she was more confused by how VPUL and OFSA discovered the event, as it was only publicized on Facebook.

“I can’t think of any other way they would have found out… it wasn’t like we were dropping flyers,” she said.

While neither VPUL nor DPS are emphasizing the use of Facebook to prevent parties, Dorsey did note that DPS “acts on info that has been given” to them.

This has caused some sororities and fraternities to disguise their association with parties publicized on Facebook, according to an anonymous Penn student who belongs to a fraternity.

Fraternity pseudonyms are used when creating events to prevent the University from “tracing” parties back to the sorority or fraternity, he said.

The Penn Police are “not out shutting parties down because we want to,” but rather responding to complaints and violations against city ordinances and state laws, Dorsey said. The most common violations involve loud music, underage drinking, blocking sidewalks, fights and exceeding the capacity of off-campus houses, which typically can only accommodate 25 people.

Dorsey also noted that this semester there have been “a large volume” of complaints.
“If we become aware of a large party or gathering, we will reach out,” he said.

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