Bones Gate fraternity's social probation period ended Tuesday, after 20 weeks of restrictions on house activity and close monitoring from Safety and Security.
BG's probation was the longest finite period in the three-year history of the Organizational Adjudication Committee. Some probation periods are served for an indeterminate amount of time, dependent on the actions of the house, and the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office could not confirm whether these probation periods exceeded BG's 20 weeks.
The period began Dec. 8, 2003 and was slated to end April 5, but BG admitted to violating their probation, pushing its conclusion back to April 20.
While on probation, BG could not host any registered social events or serve alcohol in common social spaces. The fraternity was subject to random walk-throughs from Safety and Security.
BG president Austin Brey '05 said that while the long probationary period and unannounced walk-throughs caused much discontent among brothers and lower-than-usual rush numbers, the house actually benefited from probation, in that programming, risk management and accountability were greatly improved.
"It gave us time to come together as a house and think about ways we could improve and be more compatible with the College," Brey said. "It gave us the chance to get our act together."
Most importantly, perhaps, probation allowed the house to repair its strained relationship with Safety and Security. Last fall, the fraternity filed a police report accusing Safety and Security of illegally breaking a locked door during a fire alarm to find alcohol, which was one the charges leading to their probation.
The house held a meeting with College Proctor Harry Kinne Jan. 20 to foster better relations with campus security. According to Brey, BG members now aren't as standoffish with Safety and Security.
Campus administrators praised the house for their work over the past months.
Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deborah Carney, who met with executive officers of BG biweekly over the term, pointed out the achievements of the fraternity during the winter term, which included house improvements, various alcohol-free events and ranking well compared to other Greek houses with respect to GPA and number of programming hours.
"The brothers have been working very hard to turn things around for the fraternity and are moving in a positive direction," Carney said.
April Thompson, Judicial Affairs assistant director, called BG's probation a "successful example" of an organization using sanctions as an educational period.
On Nov. 20, 2003, BG was found responsible by the Organizational Adjudication Committee for one violation of Standards of Conduct II and three violations of Standards IV, and sanctioned to 18 weeks of social probation and educational activities. While serving that sentence, the house admitted in a dean's hearing to violating their probation by hosting an off-campus social event, and was sanctioned an additional two weeks.
According to the Judicial Affairs, the house was originally found guilty of providing alcohol to an intoxicated person, harassment, serving a common source of alcohol illegally and possession of drug paraphernalia. BG's Standards II violation refers to their harassment charge, while the drug and alcohol charges compose their Standards IV violations.
Thompson said the OAC takes into account an organization's recent history in determining the length of their sentence, which led to the severe punishment of 21 weeks. She added that their violation of their probation was unrelated to both their initial sanctions and their progress while on probation.
Bones Gate and Judicial Affairs declined to go into specifics about their case.
Brey said he is excited about the house's future, with respect to both the house's ability to host registered social events and upcoming programming events. He praised the positive influence of Ryan Travia, coordinator of the College's Alcohol and Drug Education program, who became the house's faculty adviser three weeks ago.
The fraternity will host a charity squash tournament this weekend, with proceeds to be donated to the United Way. It is starting a new recycling program.
Brey also said it is good that students "will be able to come and hang out" at registered events. Tonight, BG will host a "Resurrection" party celebrating the end of probation.
Much of the rest of campus is also looking forward to the end of BG's probation. Students Andrew Groundwater '07 and Jonathan Beilin '07 are eagerly awaiting the Resurrection party tonight.
"All winter I wished BG were off probation, and now that finally happened," Groundwater said.
Beilin also noted the significance of the date BG's probation ended. April 20 is a nationwide holiday for marijuana smokers. "420" is the police code for marijuana possession.
"It's ironic that BG would get off probation on 4/20. Hopefully, the celebrations of the day won't get them back on probation on 4/21," he said.
