Smaller fraternities will now pay lower fines than Penn's larger ones if they are caught hosting unregistered parties.
InterFraternity Council President and College junior Max Dubin announced changes to the punishment system for holding unregistered parties at a chapter presidents' meeting Wednesday night.
Current University policy requires that Greek organizations register all major events involving alcohol with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
Instead of basing disciplinary action against a fraternity on the severity of an offense and a house's disciplinary history, the IFC Judicial Inquiry Board, which handles IFC policy violations, will now also consider the number of members in a fraternity when doling out punishment.
If a fraternity is caught holding an unregistered party, punishment can range from fines to probation, possibly meaning that the organization would be unable to host additional parties.
The IFC Judicial Inquiry Board is responsible for fining fraternities with minor policy violations, but only OFSA can put a fraternity on probation for a more severe offense.
IFC Judicial Inquiry Board Manager and Wharton junior Zach Coopersmith declined to give specific numbers for IFC-imposed fines.
The policy change comes shortly after the current IFC board officially took the helm as the governing board for Penn's fraternities. Dubin said he sees the policy change as a way to treat small fraternities more fairly.
"The previous punishment was unfair to small chapters and too easy on big chapters, he said.
IFC Judicial Inquiry Board members said the previous policy ignored the purpose of the fines.
"The point of the fines is to incentivize fraternities to register parties, not to just take money out of the house," Coopersmith said.
Even though larger fraternity chapters will be punished with larger fines, some see the new system as more equitable because the fines will punish fraternities in proportion to their sizes.
"Even though it will be stricter on my chapter, I voted in favor of it because it's the fair thing to do," said Beta Theta Pi President and College junior Bill Breedlove.
He said that it wasn't fair that his chapter, which has 96 members, would receive the same fine as a 20-member chapter.
"The goal wasn't to make it harsher or easier, but more standardized, which I think [this system] does well," Breedlove said.
He added that there were no disagreement among his fraternity brothers when he explained the new system to them.
"Looking at it from the point of view of trying to increase the Greek system as a whole and do what's best for the system as a whole, it's the best choice," Breedlove said.
OFSA officials monitor brotherhood numbers closely and keep records on file to ensure accuracy when considering punishments.
"Once you sign your bid, we have it on file," Dubin said. Greek system records are maintained from the point at which students enter fraternities until their graduation.
