Although greeks have a reputation of holding constant parties and heavy drinking, fraternities and sorority members must follow strict guidelines before holding a social event.
“People usually have this perception and stereotype that it’s one big frat party…and that Greek Row is a bunch of drunk rich people…but there are a lot of guidelines that we have to follow,” said Lori McDonald, the associate dean of students and advisor to the U Greek Council.
Ten days before an event takes place, each chapter is required to submit a description of the function to greek officials. Then, for every evening social function that exceeds 60 or more people, police officers are hired to not only monitor parties, but to also check the age of people who enter a party where alcohol is served.
Police officers also patrol the Greek Row area located around 100 South and Wolcott Street every Friday and Saturday night.
Furthermore, each chapter is required to have at least two sober Greek Row house officers to assist police at the entrances, make sure no neighbors are disturbed and serve as designated drivers, according to the Greek Council Constitution.
Also, chapters are not allowed to throw parties with an alcoholic theme or play “drinking games,” according to the Greek Row Constitution.
Although alcohol is allowed at parties, only male chapters can serve alcoholic drinks, a rule McDonald said has been around for a long time. She said she doesn’t know why female chapters have different rules.
However, the guidelines have not prevented crime from occurring in the fraternities and sororities. McDonald said that so far this year, three minors have been cited for possessing alcohol.
The Salt Lake City Police Department, whose officers Greek Row hires to monitor events, did not reply to a records request for a list of citations issued on Greek Row by deadline.
“We’ve certainly had our problems with Greek Row in the past,” said Salt Lake City police detective Jeff Bedard. “But we’re working together with them to eliminate the problem before it costs lives.”
Most other cases that spur from the area involve noise complaints, said Sgt. Lynn Rohland of the U Police Department, which only responds to emergencies on Greek Row because the houses are not on U property and are privately owned.
McDonald said that current Greek Row members must follow three sets of alcohol guidelines, including Salt Lake City laws, U regulations and standards set by their individual houses.
“You pretty much are forced to respect the rules,” said Nick Macey, a former Beta Theta Pi president and U graduate. “They would be hard to break, because police are watching you constantly.”
The Greek Constitution says that any incident reported that violates Greek Row rules will result in a referral to the Student Behavioral Committee or the Greek Council Judiciary.
McDonald said no members have been recently referred. She said she talks with chapter presidents about alcohol guidelines regularly at least several times each semester to prevent violations.
However McDonald said that referrals to higher committees generally don’t lead to chapter dismissals, which are based on a student’s grades, behavior and ability to pay house dues. Instead, members who receive more than one offense could face suspension from the U for one semester and must complete 15 hours of community service.
“But when someone gets a citation, everyone hears about it,” McDonald said. “That’s when people realize that we are serious.”