Cal bans alcohol at campus frats/sororities

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>BERKELEY
Cal bans alcohol at campus fraternities
Sororities also affected after spate of rowdy parties</p>

<p><a href=“http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/10/BAG6MCMOCV1.DTL[/url]”>BERKELEY / Cal bans alcohol at campus fraternities / Sororities also affected after spate of rowdy parties</a></p>

<p>UC Berkeley has indefinitely banned alcohol from campus fraternities and sororities and all events they sponsor in response to recent incidents involving alcohol, fights, hazing and rowdy parties, campus officials announced Monday. </p>

<p>The moratorium, approved by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, comes more than two years after the campus lifted a similar ban and after police this month arrested fraternity members following a fight-filled boat party on the bay and another fraternity was suspended when a pledge was shot 30 times with pellets during a hazing. </p>

<p>“This campus has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hazing and alcohol abuse,” UC Berkeley Dean of Students Karen Kenney said in a prepared statement. “Fraternities and sororities need to take these issues much more seriously.” </p>

<p>The ban affects all official activities sponsored by university- affiliated Greek organizations, whether they occur on or off campus. UC Berkeley has 70 fraternities and sororities with more than 2,500 members. Thirty-five of the fraternities and 18 of the sororities have houses near campus.</p>

<p>Snip>>>>>>>>>>>>></p>

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<p>I remember when they said they were never doing this again because the last time it caused more problems than it prevented... under the last moratorium there were more instances of students getting alcohol poisoning, more fights, etc. The problem here is NOT alcohol, it is underlying issues with the university and the student body as a whole.</p>

<p>The University never learns. And people wonder why I'm critical of it sometimes. This is ridiculous. And to everyone who thinks this will solve the universities biggest problem, it won't. Things are just going to get worse. OR maybe, the studyheads will finally get "peace and quiet". We'll just have to wait and see.</p>

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<p>^^</p>

<p>And just a disclaimer: I don't approve of what happened at either fraternity mentioned. We (the greek system as a whole) take the issues very seriously, despite what Kenney says about us. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, as we all well know, how anything can be ruined by a few bad apples. Furthermore, the University told us there was not going to be a moratorium. Then all of a sudden, we find this out from the media. Great... <em>goes off, grumbling about the media</em></p>

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<p>the underlying problem is that americans dont know how to drink. In europe where we start drinking around 14 and the legal drinking age is 16 people are finished with the crazy ass drinking by the time we are 18 and drink like civilized people when we start college. So a solution to that problem would be to lower the drinking age from 21 - 18 and see what happens..</p>

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<p>I was sitting on the 7 bus yesterday and ppl were arguing about this. So what if it's banned. Don't complain. Considering 18 - 21 year olds screw themselves over so much anyways.</p>

<p>If you're illegally drinking, what is there to complain about anyways?</p>

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<p>It's not that people don't know how to drink, but that they don't know how to act! Drinking (and inappropriate behavior) will continue at and around Berkeley. People will just be more creative about where they do it!</p>

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<p>Some drunk frat guy was leaving a frat party the other night and hit a girl and nearly killed her. That probably wouldn't have happened (at least not where it did) if there was no booze at the frats</p>

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<p>:eek: does this mean there will be no partying when we come to berkeley next fall??</p>

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<p>For those who don't wish to read much for whatever reason, </p>

<p>"The university said the moratorium would remain in effect until a working group of students and administrators "has made significant progress" in formulating plans for addressing alcohol-related problems."</p>

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<p>...no booze at the frats, Gentlemanandscholar. I don't believe in ad hominem, but that will never happen. I heard that the fellow was coming from a bar anyway. Why don't we just return to prohibition. It would not MATTER if this guy was coming from a bar, a house, or a frat. THE PROBLEM is not alcohol, it's irresponsible behavior. BANNING Alc will NOT solve anything. I'm sick of people blaming their dumb mistakes on alcohol. It's up to you to control how much you drink and what you do afterwards. I'm tired of hearing "Uh-huh-huh-huh, I was drunk, so it was cool!" almost as much as I am hearing Freshmen walking down the street, "Man, I had three beers last night, I was so wasted!" </p>

<p>Undecided87: ...yea, I know it sucks. But we'll have to be creative</p>

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<p>Ah, booze means alcohol. And from what I read in the Daily Cal, the driver and his posse were all wearing 80's outfitts because they came from an 80's themed frat party. All I'm saying was that if that young man hadn't been drinking at that frat then he probably wouldn't have hit the girl and ruptured her eardrums and given her a concussion. Besides, is drinking all that frats are good for anyway? Can't you find something better to do than drinking?</p>

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<p>Sure, I find plenty to do, like study, play an instrument, chat, hang out, etc. Alcohol sometimes happens to be involved. But I maintain you cannot blame the problem solely on alcohol. Why don't you try rushing a frat next semester to see that not all of us are about alcohol 24/7 despite what the beloved media loves to say...</p>

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<p>No thanks.</p>

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<p>You discount us, yet you do not give a reason why. I'd love to hear what notions you and your friends have in your heads.</p>

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<p>Great, looks like I won't be doing any partying at berkeley either. Sigh... Can't I just have a social life or like go to a single college party in my life? Is that too much to ask? Well, I can still go to UCLA, heh...</p>

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<p>KtS: Did you really expect too? ;)</p>

<p>No no no, we don't party here -- haven't you heard, people have resoundingly said that the purpose of us being here is to spend our entier time pasty-skinned in the library, nose deep in some archaic tome. That's the REAL meaning of college! Forget that exploration crap!</p>

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<p>oooooh getting touchy</p>

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<p>Andrew is right in that it shouldn't have to come down to an outright (and yes, i understand this is only for dorms) ban on alcohol. But then again, are there any alternatives? Call me stupid, but I don't think a WeCard program will ever be implemented by one of the frats. It's no coincidence that there have been acts related to people who have gotten drunk from frat/sorority parties, but we must acknowledge that a lot of the problems also stem from the drinking that is prevalent outside of frats- in the dorms, in the bars, etc. But the problem doesn't end there: "recent incidents involving alcohol, fights, hazing and rowdy parties," To me, we should be glad the Administration hasn't knocked down the entire frat scene altogether. But, back to the alcohol, I think it is irresponsible to allow alcohol at frat parties in the first place, considering the majority of the students are underaged. There is a likely potential that 17-18-19-20 year old will arrive at the party and seek a few cups of beer. You seem to condone such drinking, but say that they should do drink responsibility- Berkeley and intelligence is not a free pass around the law, underaged drinking is not allowed.</p>

<p>There seems to be an idea that there is either parties with alcohol, or no fun, no rights, no Greek life, no parties at all! Not true, you can have parties, dances, and other activities without alcohol. If there is some absolute need for alcohol, go someplace off campus. Get wasted in Oakland, in San Francisco, but don't do it at Berkeley. It's not prohibition, it's being responsible not only for yourself, but, damn it, for the sake of others as well. Just as one shouldn't just blame all the alcohol problems on frats, the frats shouldn't claim that their hands are clean in this matter on basis of the idea that the "problem" is isolated to idiot, dumb kids who can't handle the booze. The former is just misinformed, the latter is simply irresponsible. Berkeley is, supposedly, where one has to grow up quick and mature, but I guess there are some who to hold on for a few more years of adolescence.</p>

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<p>Andrew, I don't discount Frats. I've had many friends in the who've been in frats, but its just not for me. And I don't have a problem with drinking at frats either. I really don't think its a big deal, but I was simply pointing out that somebody who was (reportedly) leaving a frat house hit a girl with his car. You ask people to give you reasons why booze should be banned, yet you don't give reasons for why it shouldn't. All I'm asking, and its an honest question, is if booze is THAT big a part of frat life and why you guys can't drink elsewhere?</p>

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<p>Actually, ttg, I take a very Zen approach to it. </p>

<p>I don't condone underage drinking, nor I condemn it. It happens. It will continue to happen, and will always happen unless somehow alcohol is completely abolished and erased from the public memory, but somehow -- I know people will still find ways to get high, wasted, blasted, loaded, etc. </p>

<p>As chris rock said: "People'll go down into their basements and become scientists... it'll be like: ya know, ya know, you take a baby's bottle, fill it up with a little gasoline and a dead lima bean and suck it?! YOU'LL GET #^@ed UP! ...why? Because people wanna get high."</p>

<p>Alcohol is not the lifesblood of the Greek System, unfortunately, though, it is one of the few ways we can attract people. the media culture (Yes, I'm going to point fingers at the media), has created an image that we are booze-houses. We do FAR more than that, it's difficult to explain unless you actually join a house. Let me just put it this way, I was depressed and miserable before I joined the House and my grades have been steadily rising since I joined, and I would dare to say -- that I am a better person for joining the House, and if I, an incorrigable jerk and wierdo can be reformed, anyone can, but I will admit drinking and partying is a big part of our lives. It's a way to let off steam after a long week, and here at Cal, they can be VERY long. I think the Greek Culture is misunderstood by a good many people, here at Berkeley who only see the negatives. That's the problem -- it's easy to point out negatives and difficult to find positives in some things, even though they exist.</p>

<p>I wish that more responsibility by all parties would be taken, but I remember the last moratorium, almost three years ago and it was a miserable failure becuase people went ahead and did it anyway.... and what makes the ban particularly upsetting is that the Dean of Students promised us that there would NOT be a moratorium because they simply do not work, yet we had to find this out from the news media. That was what was most upsetting.</p>