Nationals advocate dry fraternities

About 35 University men were selected last week to recolonize Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the first fraternity on Grounds to have alcohol-free housing. Although the new Phi Delt chapter is breaking the tradition of frat parties at the University, it is part of a nationwide trend in which fraternities are "going dry."

The University's Phi Delta Theta chapter lost its charter last summer after allegedly refusing to adopt the national dry policy. Phi Delt's national policy states that all chapter facilities must be alcohol free.

The old Phi Delt brothers continued as a fraternity after losing their charter and changed their name to Phi Delta Alpha.

"We did everything we could to compromise" with nationals, said Phi Delta Alpha President Rob Abendroth.

But the two groups could not reach a compromise, and the original Phi Delta Theta members broke off from their national organization.

"We felt, as the alumni did, that if you are 21 and want to drink responsibly, you should be able to do so in your own home," Abendroth said.

Several prospective members of the new Phi Delta Theta, who do not have a house, said they cannot comment until they officially become a fraternal colony, which may happen within a week.

A nationwide trend

Among fraternities at the University, the national organizers of Phi Kappa Sigma and Delta Sigma Phi adopted alcohol-free policies in July and December, respectively. Theta Chi expects to go dry nationally by 2003 and Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) will recolonize as an alcohol-free house in the 2002-2003 school year.

About 1,500 of 5,300 houses in the North American Interfraternity Conference, an umbrella organization for 68 fraternities nationwide, have gone dry. Only 300 had gone dry a few years ago, The Washington Post reported in December.

Fraternities adopting alcohol-free policies is a "trend we've seen increasing," Inter-Fraternity Council president Justin Saunders said. "It illustrates the changing face of frat life and will be an important issue in the future."

Alcohol-free policies prohibit alcohol inside fraternity houses but not at fraternity-sponsored social functions outside the houses.

Other national fraternities, including Sigma Nu and Delta Upsilon, can enforce dry policies on chapters that fail to meet certain standards such as a designated grade point average, community service commitment and financial obligations.

Delta Upsilon Executive Director Abraham Cross said studies commissioned by the fraternity have found that alcohol abuse was the most common cause of struggling academic performance, damage to facilities and poor retention rates.

DU nationals implemented a policy in 1999 stipulating that if alcohol was deemed the reason for sub-par performance in measures of chapter excellence, the fraternity may impose an alcohol-free housing environment on the chapter.

Cross calls alcohol abuse "the number one problem associated with fraternities" and expects more DU chapters to adopt the policy in the future. Between 10 and 12 DU chapters already have gone dry, either voluntarily or after being forced by the national fraternity.

"I think Delta Upsilon has moved in this direction and will continue to move ... it's a long-haul process and the Delta Upsilon governing board is committed to it," he said.

Chapters with alcohol-free housing have seen increased recruitment and academic performance in addition to lower maintenance costs, but the long-term impacts are yet to be seen, he added. "It is a smart way to operate a chapter," Cross said.

Many national fraternities have adopted alcohol-free policies to offset the image of fraternities as havens for binge drinking.

"It was our response to the negative stereotypes plaguing fraternities," said James Regan, director of chapter services at Phi Kappa Sigma nationals. "We wanted to initiate some change in the best interest of our national image and our local chapters."

Matthew Holley, director of alcohol education initiatives for NIC, said he has seen an increasing number of fraternities adopt alcohol-free housing policies and expects this to continue. He credits this to the surge of alcohol abuse on college campuses, liability and legal costs and the intent of some fraternities to return to their founding principles.

Does it work?

The establishment of a national dry policy does not necessarily mean the individual chapters will comply.

Jeffrey Levy, who served on the Virginia attorney general's task force on drinking by college students, said national fraternities can establish standards restricting alcohol consumption, but the members themselves have to decide whether to follow it.

"The real issue is not whether the house is dry but ... whether alcohol is a mainstay as a social activity," Levy said.

He is not sure whether national fraternity policies will change things. "If [the University's] culture is still 'we drink hard, we party hard,' we haven't fixed things," he said. "However, fraternities are only part of the problem," and they could take the lead in the effort to curb alcohol abuse, he added.

When a national fraternity implements an alcohol-free policy, a chapter must accept that policy or risk losing its charter.

"We have and continue to expect local chapters to abide by their general headquarters' national policies," Asst. Dean of Students Aaron Laushway said. "When there's a violation, we talk with the local chapter and their nationals."

But Levy said the administration is reluctant to regulate fraternity men's behavior and should take a stronger line against underage drinking.

"The administration is big on honor and integrity but not on drinking," he said. "They don't want to be proactive. The view of the administration, in my opinion, is that they're not in the business of modifying behavior."

But some say the administration's apparent reluctance to interfere with the Greek system attests to the strong tradition of student self-governance.

"At the University, we support student self-governance in its richest form. We'd want [the monitoring] done by the students themselves," Laushway said.

Laushway was part of the Fraternity Working Group, a commitee of administrators, alumni and fraternity members that the Board of Visitors directed to find strategies for strengthening the fraternity system. The group reported its findings and recomendations to the Board at its January meeting.

One of the plans, which the Board supported, was for the fraternities to rethink the role of alcohol. The report, which was written by Dean of Students Penny Rue, states "the role of alcohol in the deterioration of fraternities and in ongoing problematic behavior is documented."

The report recommended that fraternities eliminate hard liquor from all social functions, with the possible exception of alumni events. It also mentioned that the "bring your own beer" policy is effective for several other schools' Greek systems, but students on the committee were firmly against starting a similar policy at the University.

"The administration is not eager for a divisive battle with students" about alcohol, the report states.

Alcohol-Free Plans for University Fraternities

*Sources: Fraternity national websites and the Cavalier Daily.

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