No alcohol violations reported from Greek houses during "dry week" recruitment period

Though there were a number of alcohol violations over the weekend throughout the North Village, none came from fraternity houses.

The Greek system held recruitment last week, a period also known as “dry week,” when alcohol is banned for fraternities and sororities.

The Interfraternity Council enforced blackout, as it is commonly called, with daily patrols from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. These took place in addition to day-long patrols by the Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol.

For the Interfraternity Council, this meant executive board patrols during recruitment hours to check each fraternity house for alcohol or alcoholic-related items including shot glasses and signs, said IFC president Matt Baskharoon, a fifth-year history and geography/environmental studies student.

The point of dry week is to remove any bias from the recruiting process, Baskharoon said. Drinking impairs judgment and prevents fraternity members and potential recruits from getting to know each other, he said.

Dry week also levels the playing field for smaller houses, said Lambda Chi Alpha rush chair Ryan Nagy.

“If there was no blackout, the houses with the largest group of guys and the most money could throw insane parties … whereas smaller houses would have trouble getting recognized,” said Nagy, a fourth-year environmental science student.

GAMMA patrols lasted from 10 a.m. until midnight for the duration of dry week, from Sept. 17 until Monday at 8 a.m., said GAMMA officer Nick Rose, a fourth-year political science student.

The goal was to make sure fraternity and sorority members were following the rules both in their houses and throughout the North Village to prevent Greek members from holding parties in their apartments, Rose said.

While calls from fraternity houses are less frequent during dry week than they are the rest of the year, fraternity members are known to hold parties in their apartments instead, said university police spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein.

Both GAMMA and IFC board members warn each house ahead of time of the consequences related to breaking dry week rules, Rose said.

Penalties can range from increased community service requirements for the fraternity to a 10-week ban on social events or a full year’s suspension, according to the IFC and Panhellenic social policy.

There were no violations during this year’s dry week, Baskharoon said.

The size of the Greek community makes it impossible to stop all incidences of drinking, but both GAMMA and IFC work with the fraternity presidents to explain the reasons that adhering to dry week is important, Rose said, which helps encourage them to enforce the rules in their own houses.

Rose said on Friday that he was impressed with how well the fraternities were complying with dry week policies this year.

“I’d like to picture a day when Greeks can hold off on one week of drinking,” Rose said. “It’s not that long.”