Bouncers demanding IDs. Bartenders checking for wristbands. Spaces that are off-limits.
This may be the scene freshmen will face at the average fraternity party during next year's New Student Orientation.
On Sunday night, the Undergraduate Assembly passed a proposal put forth by the InterFraternity Council to repeal Penn's ban on registered fraternity parties during NSO.
Registered parties - which restrict access to students ages 18 and above and drinking to students 21 and above - are monitored by the University.
When the ban was originally instituted in 1996, fraternities dominated the social scene. Parties were held in direct conflict with the NSO schedule, which resulted in freshmen skipping important University activities to attend or recover from these events, said director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Scott Reikofski.
The main goal of the prohibition was to better supervise the NSO schedule and prevent freshmen from feeling pressure to attend events where alcohol was being served.
The University also hoped to ensure that Greek organizations could not formally recruit these students until spring semester, Reikofski added.
However, College senior and president of the IFC David Ashkenazi explained that in Penn's culture today, the prohibition's "negatives outweigh the positives."
The proposal highlights the fact that registered parties are safer than unregistered events - a statement that is supported by Penn's Medical Emergency Response Team and the Pennsylvania Police Department.
Bartenders and ID monitors from the Office of Alcohol Policy and Initiatives are present to ensure that alcohol is distributed only to guests above 21 years of age, and fraternities are responsible for having a certain number of "sober brothers" to monitor the party.
No hard alcohol or drinking games are permitted, and no guests are allowed upstairs.
President of the Panhellenic Council and College senior Drew Tye told the UA that registered parties are safer for Penn women and give freshmen a better and more accurate glimpse of Greek life.
The next step in the process is to work with the "stakeholders" - the Division of Public Safety and the Provost's office, among others - to produce a more detailed plan of action.
The proposal will then go before the Council of Undergraduate Deans. If approved, it will pass to the Provost.
Reikofski said the Provost's final decision should be made "well in advance" of next year's NSO.
He explained that if the ban is repealed, OFSA will strive to ensure that the fraternities work in tandem with the NSO schedule to "provide [freshmen] with a safe introduction to the Penn social scene."
At the moment, it is unclear how many registered parties the University might approve and what the process would be for selecting the hosts, though Ashkenazi stressed that it would be "a privilege, not a right."
The IFC proposed starting with two to four fraternities hosting parties during NSO and possibly allowing more houses to apply for the chance to host events if the change is successful.
But regardless of whether or not the proposal is passed, the same fraternities that dominate the current social scene will probably be holding the parties.
A concern raised in Sunday's meeting was that repealing the ban would give an unfair advantage to wealthier fraternities because of the high cost of registering a party.
However, Ashkenazi said the risk of expensive fines a fraternity faces for getting caught hosting an unregistered event makes extra expenses worth the cost.
College sophomore and UA member Alec Webley, who co-authored the proposal, said the move is a step in the direction of a "cultural change" at Penn. He emphasized that the change would show freshmen a side to Greek life beyond alcohol.
"We can't contest the fact that registered parties are one of the safest ways in which we can engage in drinking," said Webley. "This policy is going to go forward, and it's going to do great things for freshmen."
