Fines don't prevent frats from charging door fees

Students say three fraternities recently charged door fees at parties, one of which resulted in disciplinary action. When InterFraternity Council leaders said earlier in the semester that charging door fees at parties would no longer be an issue, they may have spoken too soon. And in the wake of several recent incidents, some fraternity members say that, despite the threat of disciplinary action, it still pays to charge. Delta Psi, or St. Anthony's -- which had been investigated for a charging incident prior to spring break -- was recently sanctioned by the IFC's Judicial Inquiry Board, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Assistant Director Tom Carroll said Tuesday. While OFSA reported no other door fee violations this semester from reports by graduate observers, several students said charging occurred at other recent parties -- including a March 5 event at St. Elmo's, or Delta Phi, and a Delta Kappa Epsilon event last Saturday. In accordance with a Pennsylvania law passed last spring, Greek organizations are prohibited from charging money at social events. The sanction for charging -- levied by the JIB -- entails a $10 penalty per brother and four weeks' social probation for the house. Judicial Manager and Pi Kappa Phi President Adam Goldstein, a College junior, said the charging issue is a problem the IFC is "in the process of overcoming." Following the March 4 meeting of the Greek Active Partnership, IFC President Josh Belinfante -- a College junior and Alpha Chi Rho brother -- said he suspects that charging now takes place at a mere 2 percent of all fraternity parties. But recent events indicate that the problem may be more significant, and that the penalties may not be sufficient enough to prevent fraternities from charging. One member of St. Elmo's told The Daily Pennsylvanian during the party that charging is worth getting penalized for because the fraternity can make enough money that fines become rather insignificant. Several other students said St. Elmo's brothers charged them $5 to enter -- a fee the students said was negotiable. Attendees also reported that they were charged a door fee at DKE's party Saturday, although that fee was non-negotiable. "They wanted five bucks," said one male student who asked to remain anonymous. The student said he quickly left the party rather than pay to enter. He added that while some fraternities never charge fees, "certain places charge all the time." Zeta Beta Tau President David Greenspan explained that whether or not a fraternity decides to violate the law and charge money may depend largely on its size and frequency of events. "We have 90 brothers, so for us [to charge], a $900 penalty would be pretty stiff," said Greenspan, a College senior. "For other houses with 40 or 50 brothers, it's almost worth it to suck up the fines." Averaging a couple dozen members each, St. Anthony's, St. Elmo's and DKE are all significantly smaller than ZBT. Greenspan added that his fraternity holds frequent events, so the four-week social probation would be a legitimate punishment. But for houses who have "one big Mardi Gras party for the year, who cares about social probation?" he said. Belinfante, however, said the Greek system is enforcing the law. "It's pretty easy to see we're making extreme progress," said. Belinfante added that while most houses have stopped charging, some "may slip through the cracks." Even those houses, he said, will eventually comply with the law. "If St. Elmo's feels it has to charge? by the second offense it will be much in their benefit that they not charge," he said. Currently, the second sanction for a charging violation is a double penalty: eight weeks' social probation. Some students said the situation could be resolved if the the law were changed, allowing charging, but at a standard fee. "I think [fraternities] should be able to charge, but it should be a regulated amount," said one freshman. "If they were allowed to charge like two dollars, no one would have a problem."