Panhellenic leadership considers new event policy
The Panhellenic Sororities leadership is considering a revision to their social event policies after several new members from different chapters arrived intoxicated to two social events hosted at third party venues.
Greek life Director John Henderson, said that two of five social events organized to welcome newly recruited members into their chapters resulted in alcohol abuse by new members.
One event occurred at The Pit on the Hill where, Pit employee Tonya, who asked that her last name not be printed, said the Delta Delta Delta sorority held a bid-day “Neverland party.”
Bid-day is the culmination of the recruitment process.
“A few underage girls showed up wasted and brought liquor with them,” Tonya said.
The Delta Delta Delta sorority rented out a portion of The Pit; members who were 21 and older had wristbands while anyone younger had to stay in the back room where a dance party was going on.
Tonya said the new members allegedly caused such a disturbance that the police arrived and the whole group was kicked out.
By contacting Student Emergency Medical Services volunteers (SEMS) and the Boulder PD, the sororities provided assistance and support for the new members during the incident.
“The Panhellenic leadership decided that it was time to take a break from social events and make a little time for education,” Henderson said.
The Panhellenic student board chose to postpone further social events to ensure that the new members received alcohol instruction by attending a Guidelines and Objectives of Responsible Drinking program on Feb. 17.
The GORD program was developed in honor of Lynn Gordon “Gordie” Bailey Jr. who was a student at CU who died of acute alcohol poisoning during his freshmen year in 2004.
Junior Lauren Fish, an international affairs major and Alpha Delta Chi member, said the suspension was enforced in all sorority chapters. The suspension prohibited dates with fraternity members to events with alcohol.
“Our house has focused less on the suspension and more of who we are as a chapter,” Fish said. “The suspension is good in terms of what the Greek community will do as a result of bad actions; we can make our image positive.”
As a result of the recent Panhellenic social events, the leadership is considering banning social events in the future for one month after the recruitment process.
“The social event policy has not been changed yet but the one month pause on social events after recruitment is up for consideration at the next meeting,” Henderson said.
While fraternities permit alcohol on their premises, sorority chapters are dry, not allowing alcohol in the houses.
“Current social event policies require chapters to notify SEMS volunteers and the police department of all social events, allowing them to stop by any time during the event,” Henderson said.
Panhellenic board members did not respond when contacted for comments.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Heather Koski at heather.koski@colorado.edu.
