Frat parties broke alcohol code rules

Some house may face probation At least 10 fraternities were written up for violations last weekend under the Greek system's new alcohol policy, and several of them could face a minimum of three months on social probation. Greek Alumni Council Chairperson Andrea Dobin said every fraternity that held a party last weekend was in violation of the policy to some degree. There were three parties registered with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs on Friday night and four on Saturday, she added, but there were also several unregistered parties. She would not name those fraternities. Dobin said the violations varied from "the smallest" to "the biggest" possible infractions as outlined in the new policy. "Having an unregistered party is by far the biggest infraction – that and having a keg," she said. "Finding one [underage] individual with one cup of beer who is asked to put it down would be one of the smallest violations." OFSA Director Tricia Phaup added that "non-salty foods not being there or not having a guest list at the door right away" were other examples of the minor violations which occurred this weekend. Dobin said the fraternities which gave "a good faith effort" at following the policy will likely not face stiff penalties. But she said many of the chapters did not even attempt to comply with the policy. She added that there will be stricter enforcement in the future because the alumni will expect greater compliance from the chapters. Phaup said chapters which held unregistered parties have already been sent to the Greek Peer Judicial Board for review, and the minimum punishment for a "major violation" is three months of social probation. Under the alcohol policy, student and alumni monitors are only allowed to inspect those areas of the house deemed "open" for parties. But Dobin said she knows that one of the potential loopholes in the policy is that fraternities can hide liquor in the "closed" areas of the house, so the policy provides for such situations. "If a monitor sees that people are flowing in and out of other areas, the monitor can ask to enter – that's what happens when people go up and down the stairs a lot," she said. "If you have a keg in your room, and people are seeing going in and out constantly, that is suddenly considered 'open' space and subject to monitoring." Dobin said chapters should not think they can get away without following the policy. "There are chapters out there that are not even trying to comply," she said. "They figure that if they register their party and the monitors come through and they're not serving minors out of a keg that that's good enough. It's not." Neither Phaup nor Dobin could estimate what sanctions would be placed on fraternities that held registered parties with only "minor" violations or when those sanctions would be handed down. Interfraternity Council President and Alpha Chi Rho brother Morris Massel was unavailable for comment last night.