For those who plan on going out to party this weekend, members of the Interfraternity Council would like to stress that they are not there to provide alcohol and crazy parties for those who live on campus.
Fraternity parties are not free for all opportunities to get drunk. On the contrary the parties are somewhat exclusive.
IFC Advisor Rob Turning said the houses are limited to the membership of the fraternity plus 30 percent.
"For example, if a fraternity has 100 members, then they can have no more than 130 people in their house with alcohol present," Turning said. "When you hit that magic number, whatever it might be then the house has two decision, either get rid of the alcohol or disperse the party."
This is only one of several rules implemented a year ago to reduce the number of accidents due to alcohol within the fraternity. Turning said this plan has worked effectively as no injuries have been reported this year.
"We're not just partyers, the rules are serious and we follow them," said Tony Bilotto, President of IFC. "It's our house, we live there. If you are invited, give us the same respect you would have in you're own house."
Another myth of greek parties are "keggers." Not only are fraternities not allowed to purchase distribution vessels, such as a keg, or a large punch bowl containing mixed drinks, members are not allowed to pool funds to buy alcohol either.
Alcohol arrives at the houses only through an outside vendor which is then distributed, or BYOB, bring your own beer. Even at a BYOB party, guests are only allowed to bring a limited number of drinks, such as a six pack of beer or a four-case of wine coolers, said Turning.
"This is common knowledge to all the fraternities and most of the sororities," Turning said. "A lot of the freshman this that fraternities are there to provide alcohol to the underage, and that's just not the case."
Fraternities fall under the rules that everyone else does: Those underage are not allowed to consume alcohol.
The Risk Management sector of the IFC goes to great measures to make sure everyone in the fraternities are fully aware of the policy and the consequences, said Mike Stumpe Risk Reduction and Education Chair for IFC
"There was a big hype when the rule came out, it spread like wildfire," said Stumpe.
Each fraternity has an elected official who ensures all men in the house are educated about all policies and rules within IFC, student organizations, as well as local and state laws.
"(The rule) hasn't hurt any, but it's put a lot more fraternities at risk, some don't want to change from the old ways," said Stumpe. "It's up to the Fraternities whether they wan to break the rule or not, it's important that students know, but it's not their responsibility to know the rule."
To ensure fraternities are not violating the rules, IFC has a volunteer team called Student Evaluation Team. SET randomly chooses five house to visit every weekend and monitors the activity within the house. Turning said this method, which was implemented last year, has been working well.
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