An Interfraternity Council proposal that would allow fraternities to serve alcohol in their chapter houses is in its final stages of revisions, Northwestern officials and student leaders said this week.
IFC members will meet with Bill Banis, the vice president for student affairs, sometime during the third week of January to make what IFC president Michael Beadle hopes are final changes to the draft.
The proposal, which was formally submitted to Banis on Dec. 21, outlines a plan to allow fraternity members 21 and older to keep beer and wine in their room, the current rule for students living in University residential halls. It also proposes allowing beer and wine to be present at registered on-campus parties and available to students 21 and older. Third-party vendors, in the proposal, would be permitted to supply these alcoholic beverages at University-monitored events.
Banis and a committee are currently reviewing the proposal and conducting additional research about the legal ramifications associated with allowing fraternities to serve alcohol – called giving them “wet” status, said Beadle, a McCormick senior and Phi Delta Theta member. University officials have already recommended several changes to the proposal.
IFC leaders hope that if approved, the new plan will make NU’s drinking culture safer by hopefully reducing the presence of hard alcohol at fraternities.
“It’s very frustrating to walk into a (fraternity) house, having everyone run into their room, and the drinking doesn’t stop,” he said. “We don’t want someone taking vodka into their room, finishing it there and no one sees them until the next day. That’s very dangerous.”
Susan Cushman, the alcohol and other drug prevention coordinator, declined to comment on whether approving the proposal would be a positive move for the University.
There’s a large difference between residential halls and fraternities, Cushman said.
“For the res halls, there’s an infrastructure for monitoring and safety that’s quite comprehensive,” she said. “My understanding is that the chapter houses are self-regulated.”
Cushman added she is not familiar with each fraternity’s policies regarding risk management and alcohol.
Weinberg junior and Delta Chi member Tim Yuan said while getting wet status may be a start to a safer NU, it’s not the best plan. In his view, wet status will make fraternities more open about drinking, but alcohol amnesty plan would be a better alternative.
“Right now, frats can get in trouble for something that may not be their fault,” he said. “If someone got drunk somewhere else but passed out in your house, your frat is punished. It puts people in an awkward situation about calling an ambulance.”
Claire Lew, the president of the Associated Student Government, said the proposal outlines a way NU can realistically monitor on-campus drinking.
“It’s the first step into making the culture of alcohol at NU to be a little more open, more transparent,” the SESP senior said.
ASG will work with IFC to mobilize student support and get student feedback once the review process is completed, Lew said.
Beadle first drafted the proposal last January when he became IFC president. Since then, it has gone through several rounds of revision suggested by IFC board members and fraternity chapter presidents, said Lisa Currie, director of health promotion and wellness, and co-chair of the committee that will make a final decision on the plan.
“A number of suggestions from various sources, including the staff of my office, were incorporated to strengthen the proposal,” Currie said. “IFC is clearly making an effort to anticipate a variety of situations that could arise when alcohol is present and striving to be proactive in order to reduce those problems.”
Cushman said that although approving the proposal was “somebody else’s decision to make,” she believes there are many strategies fraternities can implement to make such a policy safer.
“If Michael incorporates some of the changes that we made, the proposal will be much stronger to help ensure the safety of those who go to the parties,” she said. “That’s really what I keep my eye to: If alcohol can be allowed, what can we do to ensure that members of the fraternity as well as their guests will be safe?”
Lark Turner contributed reporting.
