Fraternities seek to tighten social event rules after binge drinking incident
With the help of fraternity officers, a USU student got medical attention after he was found non-responsive and having chest convulsions as a result of binging alcohol Saturday, Sept. 20, before coming to a Delta Sigma Phi house party. As a result Greek officers came up with set of rules for social events, said Lance Brown, USU athletics vice president and Delta Sigma Phi president.
The student had snuck into the fraternity that night and no one knew where he had come from until the police and ambulance came, Brown said.
The student had been sneaking into the fraternity houses for a couple weeks in a row, coming in drunk, said Kyle Milne, member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. The police had been looking for him for various charges and they had come to the fraternities several times to search for him, he said. The fraternity wants to cut out people who sneak in belligerently drunk and disrespect the house because behavior like this ruins the image fraternities, Milne said.
“We want to show people that kind of behavior is not welcome,” Milne said. “We aren’t just the ‘drinking club’ that people think we are.”
According to general stereotypes, irresponsible drinking, partying and breaking the law are typical behavior for fraternities but in this situation, Delta Sigma Phi proved otherwise, said Cody Littlewood, Sigma Nu house president. The fraternities did the right thing that night by calling the police and paramedics immediately, he said.
“What we did that night broke fraternity stereotypes; because we acted the way we did, we probably saved his life,” Brown said.
There are really great people in the Greek community, Brown said. Although some people’s beliefs and values differ from those of the dominant religion and culture, they are still good people trying to do the right thing, Brown said.
The fraternities are trying to crack down on binge drinking and underage-drinking, and have no problem calling the cops if anything illegal is going on, Littlewood said. People wouldn’t think fraternities would want the police involved because they would “bust people,” but the fraternities have nothing to hide, Brown said.
Because of this event, the fraternities have decided to collaborate and create a strict set of Greek-wide rules to abide by during social events, Brown said. There is a common black list among the fraternities containing names of anyone who has disrespected the house and can’t come in, Brown said.
Some of the Greek-wide rules include having four sober fraternity officers at the door to check the invited guests list and black list as people come in, Littlewood said. All minors get a black X and those over 21 get a yellow wristband, Littlewood said.
“We do not condone binge-drinking or under-age drinking and we are not what the media makes us out to be,” Brown said.
The ultimate goal of USU fraternities is to be able to have social functions where everyone is invited, functions that anyone can feel safe and comfortable coming to, Littlewood said.
Greeks set themselves at a higher standard, so allowing drinking and behavior of this sort doesn’t let help to keep them high, he said. The Greek system can be a powerful tool for student involvement, Littlewood said, and the fraternities are trying to help create that.
–monica.swapp@aggiemail.usu.edu