Many television shows and feature films, like ABC Family’s “Greek” and Sony Pictures’ “The House Bunny,” flood today’s media with a portrayal of university Greek life in a light much different than what we see here at the University of Oklahoma. Our campus is dry, and all on-campus living facilities are held to very a strict alcohol policy that has had some recent minor changes.
Many students affected believe the changes in the original policy to be a completely new but Kristen Partridge, Director of Student Life, wants “to emphasize that there is no new alcohol policy. The policy is the same one that has governed residential communities since its establishment by the Board of Regents five years ago.”
“This policy was developed in response to a student's death by alcohol poisoning in his fraternity's chapter house. While no policy can be perfect, I feel this policy tries to minimize the risk of mixing communal living, social settings, and binge drinking,” Partridge says. The policy includes rules that prohibit alcohol in the student dorms and Greek houses, outlines guidelines for the routine alcohol checks of fraternity houses performed by the Interfraternity Judicial Council, and details the University’s 3-strike policy for students and Greek houses that violate these rules.
Daniel Jones, President of the Interfraternity Council, says, “The only thing that has changed (in the alcohol policy) is the way compliance checks are performed, who performs them and how much notice chapters are given before a check is performed.” So now, instead of fraternities having fifteen minutes to hide their partygoers and alcohol, they only have five minutes. The sorority houses are also now being held more accountable for their members who choose to attend these fraternity parties. As the policy now states, if a fraternity house is found to have alcoholic beverages and there are three or more members of any sorority present in the house at the time, both the sorority and the fraternity will be given a strike from the university. This rule applies to the sororities whether or not the members in the fraternity house are found in possession of alcohol or not.
Stacy Senko, active member of Chi Omega, says she is very upset by the changes to the policy. Senko’s boyfriend lives in the Beta Theta Pi house on campus. “I am scared to even go hang out in his room on the weekends for fear that a compliance check will be performed while I am there. Our president (of Chi Omega) has even told us that we are not allowed in fraternity houses under any circumstances. I think it’s really unfair and unnecessary,” Senko says. This is a common fear among many girls at OU. Many sororities have gone as far as to forbid their members from entering fraternity houses at all. This has caused much confusion in regards to fraternity date parties. As required by the University, date parties must be held at off-campus venues and the fraternities must provide busses that leave from the house and take attendees to the undisclosed location. Many girls have felt that they need to wait for the busses outside on the fraternity’s front lawn to avoid being reprimanded.
Partridge, when asked how she believes the policy changes will affect Greek life in the future, says, “(She hopes) that everything OU does to support Greek life on campus will lead to a stronger, safer, and more satisfied student community. There may be some students who choose not to participate in Greek life, but this policy affects all on-campus housing.” Even though Partridge believes the students will be more satisfied with the changes to the policy, many students on campus are outraged by what they believe is harassment by the University officials.
Ryan Buck, active member of Delta Upsilon, says, “I don’t understand why the University continues to harass the Greeks about anything and everything. It’s the Greeks who participate in all of the campus activities like The Big Event, Sooner Scandals, University Sing, and Homecoming, not the non-Greeks.” He believes that OU should be more grateful to fraternities and sororities on campus for upholding all of the University’s traditions. He feels that if OU continues to increase regulations on the houses, Greek life will slowly fall apart and with it, all of the University’s cherished campus traditions.
Jones says, “I certainly don't think this will be a good thing for Greek life. If anything, it is violating our freedom to assemble, provided to us as citizens of the United States. Regardless of the university's attempts to legitimize this undue scrutiny, it is obvious that other student organizations are not constantly harassed by the university like we are.” Jones also believes that, because of these so-called improvements to the alcohol policy, the University can expect to see a steady increase in students drinking and driving. He has struggled to find the positive impacts of the changes since their development in the fall.
While Partridge believes that the changes will continue to improve campus livings and students’ campus experience, Jones says, “I would be shocked if this issue was settled outside of the courts. The constitutionality of these checks, whether the university wants to admit it or not, is yet to be determined by a legal ruling. Students all over campus believe that there is much that can be done to improve the alcohol policy developed by the University. Many think that the policy and rules are unfair and unnecessary. Hopefully the University will realize that it is disheartening and insulting the group of students on campus who participate most in the traditions and activities that make the University what it is today.
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