M.I.T. frat bans alcohol in house

The Harvard Crimson CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (U-WIRE) -- Shortly before an M.I.T. Phi Gamma Delta pledge died of alcohol poisoning, members of the chapter were warned that alcohol would soon be banned in its house, Bill Martin, the organization's executive director, said Thursday. Martin said Phi Gamma Delta informed its 6,300 undergraduate members in September that alcohol will be banned from all of its college houses by July 1, 2000. The fraternity made a public announcement of its new policy Thursday, six days after Scott Krueger, an 18-year-old freshman at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was found unconscious in the house's basement. Krueger never regained consciousness and died in the hospital on Monday. Boston police are investigating the death and could press criminal charges, said David Estrada, police spokesperson. Under its current policy, the fraternity is not allowed to purchase or serve alcohol on chapter property. Members of legal drinking age can bring their own alcohol, however, and can drink alcoholic beverages at functions that are held off of chapter property. Those under 21 are not allowed to drink. The new regulation will prohibit members from drinking on chapter property regardless of their age. Two other major international fraternities, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu, instituted policies prohibiting alcohol from their houses in March. Eric Hoopingarner, a freshman pledging the Sigma Nu chapter at M.I.T., said he has not seen any alcohol at the fraternity house. "I haven't even felt any pressure [to drink]," he said. "I don't drink period, so it hasn't been a problem for me." Hoopingarner said the fraternity's alcohol policy was not a factor in his decision to pledge. But Martin said some members of Phi Gamma Delta are angry that the rules have been stiffened and have sent letters and e-mails to the organization's governing board. "It does represent a change from the way most fraternity chapters today operate," he said. "Our chapters are concerned about the competitive position that it will put them in. "At the same time, there are other chapters that recognize that we have to do something in the fraternity system both to change our image and to diminish the influence that alcohol has on fraternity life," Martin added. But as the fraternity hastens to tighten its alcohol policy in the wake of the tragedy, new evidence shows that the university ignored warnings about serious alcohol abuse problems on campus.