Yesterday marked the final step for a new social policy that will radically change Greek system parties next semester.
The Interfraternity Council adopted an amendment last night that “strongly encourages” fraternity houses to have people sign waivers when entering a party. This proposition is optional for houses, unlike the requirements passed last week for parties requiring that Greeks must limit the number of guests at their parties, register parties in advance, adopt a bring-your-own alcohol policy and include monitors at the door and inside.
The Greek community has adopted these changes to make parties safer, keep them fun and to reduce chapters’ liability in the event of a lawsuit, said Alan Lovi, IFC spokesman. The changes take effect next semester, but there will be no fraternity parties for the first weekend after classes begin because new Social Responsibility Committee monitors must be trained before they can watch over parties.
“There’s two real big challenges — execution of the plan and enforcement,” said Dustin Schmuldt, incoming vice president of social policy. “We want to educate people that we’re not ostracizing (students), and to make them realize that our parties were out of control.”
Fraternities must register parties and tell SRC, a board that ensures adherence to party regulations, how many people will be in attendance. A tier system, contingent on the estimated guest list, will determine the monitoring level of each party by SRC.
The first tier will allow 100 people or fewer to attend, including fraternity members living in that house. Monitors from SRC will be required to attend the party. SRC monitors would regulate party attendance at the door and try to keep the party safe inside. Once the party reaches its limit, the SRC monitors must prohibit more people from going in until others leave.
Second-tier parties will allow twice as many people and require more SRC monitors.
The third tier will be the largest permitted by the Greek system, allowing fraternity members and from 200 to 400 extra people in a party with numerous SRC monitors.
No matter what the size of the party, all attendees must show their Mcard at the door and bring their own alcohol, which may be up to a six-pack of beer or one pint of liquor per person. Once inside, a person will have the option of holding their alcohol or keeping it at a check-in station where it will be given back to them when they ask for it.
In addition, some houses may ask people to sign a waiver, drafted by a lawyer, which aims to reduce fraternities’ liability for partygoers’ negligence. Pi Kappa Alpha already uses this waiver at all of its parties.
“I think that it may be a good idea to help the problems that have been associated with frat parties,” said LSA junior Lisa Gluck, who did not attend the meeting. “But it’s going to be difficult to enforce it.”
New IFC members will be partially in charge of enforcing the social policy they adopted when their new members take office and the policy take effect next month. “There’s a lot of pressure I’m putting on myself to get things done,” said incoming IFC President Michael Caplan. “By no means is our community perfect. We’re aspiring to keep building on the foundation that was built before us.”