Alpha Delta fraternity and Psi Upsilon fraternity, which are respectively suspended and on probation, must adopt new alcohol distribution procedures after their alcohol bans are lifted.
AD has been suspended through March 29, 2015, and Psi U has been placed on probation through Feb. 13, 2015. During those periods, neither house will be allowed to serve alcohol, though members of Psi U may keep alcohol in their private rooms if they are of legal drinking age, College spokesperson Justin Anderson said.
The alcohol ban at AD will continue through Sept. 14, 2015, and it will include private rooms. In addition to the bans, both houses will have to move to a system of third-party vendors for alcohol or adopt a “bring your own booze” policy after their alcohol bans are lifted.
Fraternities must develop third-party vending and BYOB policies in consultation with the Greek Letter Organizations and Societies office. AD would need to maintain its BYOB or third-party vendor policy through Sept. 2016, while Psi U must continue its version of the policy through Feb. 2016, Anderson said.
“It’s not simply hiring a Dartmouth student to bartend,” Anderson said. “It’s contracting with a third-party licensed vendor or creating a BYOB policy.”
AD president Mike Haughey ’15 and Psi U president Tobin Paxton ’15 did not return multiple requests for comment.
AD’s suspension, handed down on Oct. 2, stems from two incidents earlier this year, Anderson said. The fraternity, which has been on probation for nine of the last 12 terms, hosted a party on March 1, 2014, at which they had planned to serve beer to guests of legal drinking age.
“There’s evidence that while this event was happening, in addition to beer, bottles of rum, whiskey and vodka and mixers were made available,” Anderson said. “In areas where alcohol was being served, there was no designated server. Guests poured their own drinks and no IDs were checked.”
On Aug. 3, a random Safety and Security check found around 70 individuals at AD. The fraternity had not told the College that it would host such a large event, Anderson said.
The organizational adjudication committee determined disciplinary actions for both fraternities. Six College faculty, six College administrators selected by the College President and 12 students, half of whom are selected by the Dean of the College and half of whom are elected, sit on the committee. A smaller quorum of the committee evaluated AD's case.
“In reaching their decision, the OAC considered AD’s disciplinary history over the last three years,” Anderson said.
He said that AD has, at various times, been found responsible for hazing, unregistered alcohol and serving minors.
While AD received a hearing, Psi U did not after the organization “basically admitted” to charges of providing alcohol to underage students, not checking IDs and not monitoring the serving of liquor, Anderson said. Psi U was placed on probation on Sept. 26, Anderson wrote in a follow-up email.
While AD is the only house currently suspended, Psi U is joined by “a number of houses” that are also on probation, Anderson said, although he was not sure which those were.
Anderson said that third-party vendor policies have been used by the College for certain types of events in the past, but he was unaware of the policy being used as a sanction. The use of third-party vendor and BYOB policies have been endorsed by the National Panhellenic Conference and the North American Intrafraternity Conference as best practices, he said.
Anderson said that some other institutions use these polices as “standard operating policy,” not a sanction.
Neither the National Panhellenic Conference nor the North American Intrafraternity Conference responded to requests for comment.
David Hanson, an emeritus sociology professor at the State University of New York at Potsdam and an expert on collegiate alcohol policy, said that he was not familiar with BYOB or third-party server requirements being used as sanctions.
“I’m not sure BYOB would lead to safer drinking,” Hanson said.
He said that minors could likely procure alcohol from those of legal drinking age, but if minors were unable to do so, the policy might be effective.
Third-party servers, he said, are usually sought by fraternities themselves to reduce liability.
“The third-party server would be legally liable for any problems, and that would remove the liability from the fraternity,” he said. “Typically it is desired by the fraternities to protect themselves. I’m unclear as to why that would be a sanction.”
While he said that a third-party vendor may not over-serve students, he did not understand the logic of the two sanctions.
Hanson said that the most effective policy he has seen to reduce binge drinking is a “social norms” campaign, which uses data-driven marketing to inform students that others frequently do not drink as much as individual students may believe.
AD can appeal its suspension and other penalties until Oct. 9, Anderson said. Psi U appealed their sanction but admitted to the charges.
Some fraternity presidents said that their houses were considering new policies to reduce high-risk drinking and to reduce risks for the houses.
Zach Queen ’15, Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity president, said that his house was “not nervous” about sanctions or penalties, but that it was aware of the need to limit its risks and liabilities.
“We just understand right now all the fraternities are on the chopping block, so risk management is our number one priority right now,” he said.
Queen said Chi Gam was “not currently considering” a third-party vendor option or a BYOB option, but that institutional discussions were ongoing.
Beta Alpha Omega president Chet Brown ’15 wrote in an email that while he was unaware of plans to bring third-party vendors or BYOB policies into Greek houses, “it’d certainly be something we’d be interested in if it appeared to promote safety and cut down on high-risk drinking.”
“We’ve already begun implementing some of our own ideas to mitigate the challenges we face with alcohol,” Brown said.
Beta has established a nightly curfew on alcohol service after which no drinks will be served. The fraternity’s members “make rounds to eliminate all open or available sources of alcohol” after a certain number of people are in the house, he said.
Brown said he was not fully aware of sanctions against other houses.
Daegwon Chae ’15, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity president, said that his house was still discussing new policies internally.
Presidents of other fraternities and local sororities declined to comment or did not respond to requests seeking comment.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended (Oct. 9, 2014):
A quorum of the OAC heard Alpha Delta fraternity's case, not the committee as a whole. Though Psi Upsilon fraternity admitted to the three charges brought against them by the College, they appealed the sanctions for these charges. The article has been corrected.
