Your chapter/national policies on alcohol?

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

Our colony decided a few weeks ago that our chapterhouse will be dry. The decision was made based on cleaning up after the fraternity that moved in, our experiences with visiting other chapterhouses at Iowa State, and the statistics of wet/dry chapters at Iowa State (dry chapters are all ranking higher in GPA and have more involvement on campus in a wider range of activities).
The exact wording of the by-laws and policies have not been finished (we're still debating whether 21+ members may have alcohol in their room but not in the public places, etc)
Well... our alumni are now shitting bricks and throwing them at each other over our decision. Some are in favor, some are not.

So I'm curious: what is your chapter's policy regarding alcohol at the chapterhouse? National or collegiate policies?

[hoosier]

College: a fountain of knowledge where everyone does to drink!

This was the philosophy in the old days, and unfortunately it's been our downfall.

If you visit many 'wet' chapter houses Sun. or even Mon. morning, you often find a wasteland. Some of these messes never get cleaned up.

Take a look at the typical sorority house, which never has 'wet' parties. The house probably looks great, and cleaning, maintenance, and replacement costs are much lesser.

Guys used to come to college and learn to drink, but now that experience seems to happen in high school.

Certainly, your chapter can have 'wet' parties at local facilities, and you can have fun without booze.

I don't think you will chase-off the type of pledge and member that you really want (and that can help your GPA) by banning booze.

I don't think you will chase-off the type of alumni that you really want by banning booze. Do you think the young alumnus banker/salesman/teacher, with a wife and two little ones, wants to come by the chapter house for a booze party? I think the alum is more likely to return for a Homecoming lunch with a nice buffet and a clean house, than for a beer blast. Who do you think is most likely to pay alumni dues and contribute to the new house fund - the "let's party boozer" or the family man?

Party on, have fun, get lots of NMs - it's probably easier if you're sober and seeking more sober ones.

Best wishes to everyone in Ames.

[Kevin]

You've taken a positive step in my opinion.

Technically, on my campus, no one is allowed to have alcohol. There is DEFINITELY a correspondence between dry chapter houses and higher grades and campus involvement.

I can't imagine that you'd be chasing off any potential new members (that you'd want) with this policy. You'll be offering a cleaner and safer living environment than wet houses do.

[33girl]

Go damp, not dry. There's no reason a 21 year old shouldn't be allowed to have a beer or glass of wine in his home. Plus if your chapter members can do that, they're more likely to stay at home and bond with each other rather than leaving the house going to the bar or a friend's house every time they want to have a beer.

How do you have alums if you are a colony?

[PhiPsiRuss]

Bro,

Phi Psi, and many other GLOs, derive their alcohol policies from the FIPG.

I just IMed our ED and asked him, "how closely do our risk management policies follow the FIPG's Risk Management Manual?"

He answered, "to the 'T'"

As for deciding to go dry, I think that its great you decided on your own. Its easy to make that decision now. If you were to have a wet house for a few years, and then decide to go dry, there would be much internal resistance.

Alumni opposed to going dry will get over it, or might be alumni that you don't need around the house until they do.

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

Originally posted by 33girl
How do you have alums if you are a colony?

Iowa Beta surrendered its charter and ceased operations in 1999 due to financial burdens and low membership problems.
This spring we began the process to recolonize and recharter.
We have over 900 living alums from our chapter.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by IowaStatePhiPsi
Iowa Beta surrendered its charter and ceased operations in 1999 due to financial burdens and low membership problems.
This spring we began the process to recolonize and recharter.
We have over 900 living alums from our chapter.

There's your problem. 900 alums will have 900 or so different opinions. They should have their own alumni chapter and give you the alumni's collective opinion through that -- or through the house corporation.

Alums usually are pretty resistant to change. This is a good change. If you don't believe me, there are tons of statistics out there (I'm sure your HQ would be happy to provide you with them) that agree with what I'm telling you. If these guys want to complain, let them. Alums don't have to live in the chapter house, you guys do.

[Tom Earp]

What ktsnake said is so true along with Russ, the Risk Management Insurance problem has become so strong across the Countries with Greeks that is is a serious problem.
It is called $$$$!

KT, yes with 900 Alums, they should and Could have backing to re-colonize. But, maybe when the Alums wake up to the real reality that it aint the good old days and want to have something to come back to, they may change their minds.

As I have said many times, if it is not for My Chapter of LXA, then I could care less about ging back to that school.


While it may seem that Schools are becomeing more Greek Prone, they still want protective guidelines in place. The only place that it can come from is National HDQs and The Chapters them selves.

The major problem has been, that the Chapters do not keep control of House partys and that is the rub. There are problems, the police are called and then then the school gets envolved, which inturn the National HDQ gets envolved.

LXA Just got kicked off of UNCC, for being stupid.

Beleive it is still on Risk Mgt. Thread.

Great Chapter, no longer there.

Well, I guess "they were" a Great Chapter for a while.

[bluefish81]

I think that your decision to go dry is a good one - given the success of many of the dry fraternities on campus. I'd feel differently if dry chapters didn't have such a huge precense on campus, ie. FarmHouse, Phi Delt, Alpha Gamma Rho (are they still dry?) and others. All of these chapters are pretty big on campus and as you said, in numbers and campus involvement (committees and intramurals) plus their GPAs aren't bad from the information that I have from this spring.
Having lived next door to your chapter house (when Phi Kappa Psi was still there and with the chapter you rented it out to) I'm well aware of the condition it was in when I graduated in the fall of 2001 and I somehow doubt that things improved after I left.
I would agree that a LOT of these problems could be solved by the chapter facility being dry. While some of your alumni may not be thrilled that you wish to be dry, I think it is definetely good for the chapter for so many reasons - if your fraternity ever nationally goes dry (it will be a non-issue), there will be a lot less liability, maintenance of the facility will be so much easier.
I know that you have some type of corp or advisory board since I know your chapter owns the house. They could decide to have you go dry in a few years if the decision wasn't made now. I know this has happened to at least one chapter on campus in the past three years after the chapter (which never left campus) moved back into their facility after rebuilding it. The result of the alumni board making their facility dry resulting in a large group leaving the chapter (like Russ said). One of my guy friends is on the advisory board for his fraternity at ISU and they made the decision to have the chapter go dry starting this fall. I honestly think that by dry chapters are starting to make up the majority of fraternities on campus as opposed to the one or two chapters that were dry when I started in the fall of 1997. I'm thinking there's at least 11 dry chapters now if not more, am I right?
I think it's great that your chapter is recolonizing and that you'll eventually be moving back in to the house.
-Bekah

Edited because I can't string sentences together. Glad that the journalism degree is coming in handy.

[aephi alum]

AEPhi's national rule is that houses must be completely dry. That means you can't have booze in your room even if you are of legal drinking age. Certainly no booze in public places. I think this is typical for NPC sororities.

As for my school's collegiate policies, I think the only blanket rule is no kegs. (I think this was a Boston Licensing Board rule, which the IFC later extended to cover the houses in Cambridge and Brookline as well.) However, some fraternities are nationally dry, and some chapters have chosen to go dry even though their national offices say they don't have to.

Going dry would probably help lower your liability insurance, too.

[RACooper]

I'll be honest.. my chapter's policies on alcohol does differ from IHQ, partly because Canadian laws differ....

But that being said opinions are changing within the chapter, well alumni, towards drinking around the chapter. In the past the chapter had a slightly higher average age than most, falling around 20-23, for the past decade or so... so drinking was more of a social "lubricant" and not the focus of any event or evening... basically no one drank for the sake of getting drunk (except maybe New Years or St. Pats), but over the past two years changes in the Ontario school system, and a greater emphasis on numbers has pushed the average age range down to 18-21 (with some being 17) and the attitudes towards drinking are decidedly different.

As it stands now we have had problems with some members bindging once or twice a week, and standards have had to institute penalties to curb the behaviour of some members... as well as instituting no drinking zones in the house and property... hopefully attitudes will shift to responsible attitudes towards drinking, before we are forced to take harsher steps for the sake of the chapter...

[Lady Pi Phi]

All of Pi Phi's houses are dry. It's a national policy.
I'm pretty sure all NPC houses are dry.

[BabyP]

Dry to the BONE........... maybe one or two sisters drink but at their home/vacation/wedding parties but not in public or in parties. We have a non-alcohol parties and planning an event with no alcohol. It is near a bar so if people (that is not in our sorority) want alcohol they can go to that bar after the party or whatever but not with us or at our party. Also the security problems is less and parties can go for long time. NO noise or drunken behavior, misconduct, etc......Have lots of gifts/prizes, people prefer something they can tke home, not something they will throw up (after drinking).

[GeekyPenguin]

I've never been to a truly dry fraternity house, but I've been in "damp" and "wet" ones, and the damp ones are more successful, have better brotherhoods, and they haze less. Coincidence? I don't think so.

[shadokat]

pixell-

It's really going to depend on what your international policy is. But for NPC groups, know this for sure...if you have alcohol in a chapter house, and something bad happens, you have already forfeited your insurance, as per FIPG and sorority policy.

It's just not worth it on the NPC level.