Students disapprove of new alcohol policy

Many students said in the past week that they are anything but pleased about the proposed new Alcohol Management Policy. The new policy will eliminate fraternities as the main social outlet for University students and will hurt the social life on campus as a whole, many students said. "I think it will basically eliminate the social life at Penn," said College sophomore Jeffrey Frutkin. "The social life is based around the fraternity parties for the most part." The policy, which was submitted by the Greek Advisor's Council to the University for approval, would change parts of the current policy including the number of people allowed to attend each party and the amount of alcohol each person can bring to a party. Students said they were most upset about the proposed rule that all fraternity events would have to end by 2 a.m. College freshman Gregory Buck said he feels that the policy, if approved, will force students off campus to drink alcohol, which is more dangerous than staying on campus. "Overall, I think it will shift the social scene further away from fraternities and more toward going to the city or different club functions," he said. "Within the Greek system, it will be virtually impossible to organize the huge blowout parties of the past because of the [proposed] invite system." "No matter what happens students are still going to be drinking," Buck added. "If parties are cut down, students will be heading to other options . . . further away from campus which will make it more dangerous for them." College freshman Dana Rice said she thinks the new policy will also cause prospective students to reconsider matriculating at the University. "One of the things people look forward to most about college is the social life as well as . . . fraternity parties," she said. "Academics and social life [are of importance to people applying to college] and a lot of people would choose not to come to Penn if we had a policy like that." GAC Secretary Andrea Dobin said last week that a chapter's recognition would depend on its compliance with the new policy, and that fraternities could lose their University recognition if they violate any of the proposed guidelines. The proposed policy states that "[c]hapters violating the guidelines within this document will be placed on social probation for a minimum of three months. A subsequent violation during this period of time, or during the same academic year, will result in a six month social probation." The policy also states that any further violations would result in immediate review by the Fraternity and Sorority Advisory Board. Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said last week that the policy will not be enacted until next semester.