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Current Issue: Volume 130, Number 1 July 14, 2009
Ed/Op


Sororities support fraternities holding dry events

Posted 02-28-2001 at 10:36AM

Skyla Loomis
Panhellenic Council President

At the close of last semester, the RPI Panhellenic Association (the governing organization for all sororities on campus) signed a resolution encouraging sorority members to support dry fraternity housing. First, let me give a little history behind this concept. This initiative originated from the National Panhellenic Council, and all 26 national sororities across the country have agreed to some form of this resolution. It was created out of a request from the National Interfraternity Council to have the greek women on campuses support their effort to encourage fraternities to move towards dry housing because it decreases liability and has been shown to have many positive effects on students’ lives. All sororities on campus already have dry housing.

This resolution is only a small step, but one of the first in the movement towards dry fraternity housing. It states that "all RPI Panhellenic groups will not attend alcoholic, social, co-sponsored events with non-dry men’s fraternities in their facilities." This means that sororities will not solely attend, and thereby co-sponsor, events that take place in wet fraternity houses. Events held outside of the fraternity house, such as at a third-party vendor, are acceptable, and still encouraged. It is NPC’s hope that this resolution will help to reduce the liability on fraternities.

Panhel has been working to educate the greek community about this resolution. We held a forum explaining the resolution and what it meant to all sorority members on Wednesday, February 21, and afterwards opened the floor to a question and answer session. It was received positively, and helped to clear up many concerns and misconceptions. The week before, I presented the resolution to the fraternity presidents at an Interfraternity Council meeting and asked for their respect of and assistance in supporting the sororities to uphold this new policy. A new era of social responsibility is coming upon us whether we like it or not, and the greek women of RPI are leading the way.



Posted 02-28-2001 at 10:36AM
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