As was decided last week by the Interfraternity Council’s Executive Board, all open fraternity events during which alcohol would be served have been cancelled while the IFC negotiates with the Dean of Students Office over how to best prevent underage drinking. Since August, four fraternities have been disciplined as a result of underage drinking incidents, and three other cases are still pending. In two of these incidents, the chapter president was arrested. These events have led to concern over how some elements of greek life, such as the party policy, are organized.
“Does fun mean putting oneself at risk? Does fun mean putting others at risk?” asked Dean of Students Mark Smith. He said the discussion is over where “the greek system [is] willing to draw the line, and [whether or not] that line is acceptable to the Institute.”
IFC President Chuck Centrelli said that he is moving on the issue as quickly as possible, and is seeking to resolve the dispute before the end of the semester. He said that his biggest concern is that the problems will not be resolved by then, and will continue to haunt the greek system until next semester.
His first act came Friday, April 16, with the distribution of an e-mail to all chapters notifying them of the cessation of alcoholic activities. The strong wording he used caused an initial panic among greek students and fear that the fraternity system would be abolished, and he apologized for that, saying he also thought it was an emergency.
“We need to get rid of that ‘We can do anything we want’ sense,” Centrelli said. “There are some things houses can argue against, and some things they can’t, and one of those is the law.”
Centrelli also said that the reaction to the IFC’s decision has been positive so far, with individuals calling to ensure that whatever events they are holding are not violating the temporary policy, and generally expressing a willingness to work through the problem.
“It makes me happy that there are responsible people on this campus that are in the greek system,” he said.
Smith said that the complaints being voiced do not lie as much in the drinking as they do in the actions that have been seen to accompany the drinking, such as physical and sexual assault, health problems, and destruction of property. However, his goal is that there will be no underage drinking at RPI.
The IFC called a meeting of all chapter presidents last Wednesday to discuss the issue and what could be done to resolve it. Smith said the tone of the meeting was somber but not confrontational, and that the group recognized that greek life as a whole is more important than putting individual chapters or members at risk.
“The consensus was that college life should be something you remember” and not a series of disconnected memories formed between blackouts, Smith noted.
A forum that will be open to the whole community has been planned for Wednesday, April 21, at 9 pm in DCC 308.
Smith said he was looking forward to meeting with the greek leadership and hoped to come to a consensus on what should be done. He said he hoped the negotiations will work, and that he wouldn’t have to issue declarations such as forcing all chapters to go dry (not allow alcohol on the premises), not allowing chapters to host events with alcohol, or increasing sanctions such as “two strikes, you’re out.”
“It’s a culture change,” Smith admitted. “It’s a mindset change on how members of the greek community view underage drinking and manage parties and events that have alcohol available.”
“Maybe we needed something like this to wake us up and realize that it’s time for change,” said Centrelli. “This is an excellent time to explore additional options that we hadn’t looked at before.”
Some of the alternatives that have been discussed are making the party policy stricter, hiring vendors to provide the alcohol at events, as well as holding events at off-campus locations such as banquet halls.
Centrelli said that work on the issue is not holding up the relationship statement between RPI and the greek system, and that work on that document is progressing on schedule. He added that the IFC has had most of its goals for the revision met.
