U. to strengthen its BYOB policy

The Greek Advisors' Council has completed a new alcohol policy proposal and has sent it to the University for approval, GAC Secretary Andrea Dobin said this week. The new guidelines will focus on greater control of the Bring Your Own Beer guidelines that currently govern Greek social life, Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said last night. According to the guidelines, all parties are to be BYOB and by invitation only, parties should be sufficiently monitored, registered with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and must offer alternatives to alcohol. "It's a stronger emphasis on BYOB which is the cornerstone of the [Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group, an insurance program for fraternities]," Moneta said. "The GAC is interested in having its chapters comply with the FIPG guidelines." Moneta said there are no plans to implement the new policy until next fall. He said the alumni of each chapter hold legal liability for their fraternity because they are the corporate owners. He added that the policy attempts to ensure that fraternities follow certain guidelines in order to reduce their liability. Dobin said the policy is essential for fraternities and sororities in that a chapter's recognition would depend on its compliance with this policy. "You would have to comply with the alcohol policy in order to keep your recognition," she said. "If you violate any of the policies, that's one way to lose your recognition." Interfraternity Council President Morris Massel said last night that both the IFC and the Panhellenic Council have been consulted about the new policy. He added that the IFC has not viewed the final version and has not accepted all of its terms yet. "The alumni have been putting together this policy and we have been working and negotiating with them, but they have been taking a number of steps without us and we are waiting for a formal presentation from them of the policy," Massel, a College senior, said. "There are some problems with the current policy that do need to be ironed out and fixed up and I believe that's what this policy is going to do." Massel said that even though the policy appears to be just a greater emphasis on the existing policy, there are some aspects of the new policy which have yet to be revealed. "The University and alumni are going to be taking a stronger role in the policy," he said. "A lot of things in the policy do change and I think those are going to affect fraternities more . . . There's nothing wrong with the original policy's goals. This policy is seeking to achieve the same goal through a different set of strategies." Massel also called for the introduction new social activities for students, in an attempt to retain the University's image of the "party school of the Ivies." "With this new policy coming along, the fraternities may not be the social center that they have been for the last number of years," he said. "It's now time for the University to start supplying a social life for the freshmen and sophomores who mainly attend fraternity parties, and to start creating a regulated social atmosphere for members of the University community." Moneta said he feels confident that the new policy will be a success. "It will certainly work better if it is something that the IFC agrees with," he said. "If there is resistance, it has problems."