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    tuxedocatherineAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 10:54am

    It's important to note that sorority functions can have alcohol (provided and dispensed by a 3rd party vendor - so that the responsibility to card is on them) at functions that they throw at other locations, such as bars, function halls, etc.

    It is still a problem that alcohol is strictly forbidden within the sorority house, but an important distinction.

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      LookAtThoseCavemenGotuxedocatherine
      1/20/15 10:57am

      Yeah, this. It's deeper than that sororities can't throw house parties with alcohol—they can't have alcohol anywhere in the house ever.

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      BecauseoftheImplicationtuxedocatherine
      1/20/15 10:59am

      Thanks for this. We had plenty of alcohol at sorority parties - it just couldn't be supplied by the sorority itself, which is why we had parties at bars.

      That's not to say it's not an issue; I do think that allowing sororities to throw their own parties would be a good idea.

      Plus the guest list was pretty strict, as each sorority member is allowed one date, who had to be sent in beforehand.

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    Kat Callahan (鮎川きお)Anna Merlan
    1/20/15 11:12am

    Personal anecdote: I never saw a difference between parties held at private residences where sorority members lived vs the private residences/fraternity house of my organisation. Behavior was equally problematic or equally well controlled.

    That said, I spent the majority of the time at parties sober and wandering around. I served as social chair and a member of standards, and had a habit of thinking of myself as "on patrol" all the time.

    As a social chair, though, I agree with Reckford: easier to kick guys out of a sorority member's residence than their own house. Although I feel the better thing to do is to take away alcohol from the fraternity houses, too. Make everything third party vendor serving functions with a limited guest list and a limited timeframe.

    ...yeah, I wasn't always a popular person as social chair. A less popular person as a member of standards, I assure you. Just ask the members I helped remove.

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      FatLynnKat Callahan (鮎川きお)
      1/20/15 12:09pm

      We had 3-5 sober sisters at every event, and I remember being shocked to find out that every group didn't do this. I don't like the idea of putting the responsibilities back on the women to prevent rape, but sober sisters can also make sure people aren't dying of alcohol poisoning and things like that.

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    jemandthehologramsAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 11:01am

    Wait, seriously? I don't have anything against sororities. I didn't go to a school with a big Greek life and wouldn't have joined anyway, so all this is news to me. But really, this is just silly. It's 2015, if college organizations can't encourage equality between genders, where are kids going to learn it.

    Also, girls are just as capable of doing keg stands as guys.

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      olivianewtonjohnjemandtheholograms
      1/20/15 11:06am

      Sororities can have parties with alcohol, just not in their house. Men and women are equally able to party and always have been. The women seem to enjoy having houses that are actually nice.

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      Bears for Presidentjemandtheholograms
      1/20/15 11:14am

      Throwing the big sorts of parties that see things like Keg stands is really an expensive and time consuming process. Leaving aside the insurance issues it's just a lot of work logistically so, as someone who spent a couple years as a Fraternity social chair, there would be nothing in the world that please me more than sorority girls funding their own GD drunken mishaps for a change.

      Seriously, some of those girls were terrifying.

      GIF
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    tdhurstAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 10:58am

    The solution to alcohol issues is never more alcohol.

    Good fucking god.

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      ShadowPrydetdhurst
      1/20/15 11:09am

      Good thing this isn't an alcohol issue then, huh?

      This is a rape culture issue. It has nothing to do with alcohol. It has to do with grown ass men thinking unconscious/incapacitated = acceptance. How they got unconscious/incapacitated is immaterial.

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      NoOnesPosttdhurst
      1/20/15 11:11am

      This isn't more alcohol, it's moving the location of the alcohol.

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    adultosaur married anna on the astral planeAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 11:08am

    anna, i have a new flag request option: "It's fucking stupid as all fucking hell"

    pls pass this along to the admins or whomever tyia kiss kiss

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      Sipowitzadultosaur married anna on the astral plane
      1/20/15 11:13am
      GIF
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      digbetteadultosaur married anna on the astral plane
      1/22/15 8:47pm

      Given this thread I would also like 'rando white dude mansplaining life' button.

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    willsomeonethinkofthechitlinsAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 11:13am

    We weren't allowed to drink mixed drinks at fraternity socials. Our booze policy was you could bring a couple of bottles of wine or a six pack or beer or wine coolers. No hard booze. The fraternity had to provide something for you eat which was normally chips. No drinking from unopened containers. No drinking anything you or your sisters didn't bring. No going anywhere, not even to the toilet without letting your sister know where you were. Absolutely no leaving a party on your own— even if your dorm was across the street.

    I can't see where allowing alcohol in sorority houses would be an improvement.

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      oetpaywillsomeonethinkofthechitlins
      1/20/15 11:37am

      how does one drink from an unopened container anyway?

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      Widget82willsomeonethinkofthechitlins
      1/20/15 11:38am

      As someone who had just turned 17 and was finally free of her fundie parents, the first place I went to party at college was a frat house (because I had not yet met my art/theater/hippie/punk friends). So, not just sorority girls go to parties. Other women go, and they may not have anyone watching their backs. That could make a difference for newbs just trying to fit into the scene.

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    Persephones6Anna Merlan
    1/20/15 11:33am

    Hello there, sorority girl here. I've thought a lot on this topic in the past few months and while I was on board initially because I think it may help with the power dynamic (which is ABSOLUTELY a problem; I completely contend that), I'm not sure it would happen in practice. And not necessarily because it isn't worth a shot, but because sororities did themselves a huge favor years ago by nearly eliminating the #1 insurance liability Greek life has (still by far the #1 liability fraternities has, which makes no sense. Fraternities are businesses, and if the majority of your liability is coming from one area or practice, as a business shouldnt you be interested in eliminating whatever that liability is?). While fraternities still grapple with alcohol related deaths and injuries, and one frat or other is constantly being sued for damages, sororities have kept a lower insurance profile by prohibiting alcohol and the messy legalities that come with it. I think it would be a hard battle convincing NPC that the insurance and liability inherent in serving alcohol on their premisis would be worth reinstating what is known will likely cause injuries. To them, that's asking them to acknowledge a severe problem and decide to invite it into their own houses. I'm not saying its right or better or fair, but I just really feel like that's what would happen on the way there and it's an obstacle I don't think comes to our minds but comes to theirs first.

    Also, this article has got some sexism hanging out in it. Please don't assume the house would be nicer just because it's occupied by women. Alcohol is everywhere, and it's gonna spill and be messy regardless. My parents were both greek in the 70s when all houses had alcohol, and there didn't seem to be a huge difference in the cleanliness. A kegger is a kegger. Much Love, a messy sorority girl and her very clean fraternity boy.

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      lucy pevensiePersephones6
      1/20/15 11:56am

      I think we're reaching the point where everybody involved in the business side of the Greek system understands that it's not legally or financially sustainable for fraternities to continue hosting parties. A number of them have already instated dry-house policies, and several more are leaning that way. The only reason fraternities still host in-house parties is tradition—any fraternity that tries to instate policies against them gets serious pushback from members and alumni. But the insurance costs are too big for the smaller national fraternities to handle, and they're starting to creep up on the mid-range and larger nationals too. In twenty or thirty years, every fraternity will have banned in-house parties. It's ridiculous to suggest that sororities should adopt a policy that's already out of date, already not sustainable, and massively ups both the costs of their dues and the possibility that they'll be sued.

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      Persephones6lucy pevensie
      1/20/15 12:16pm

      ^^ YES thank you!! You said it better than I did. And THIS is why sororities got rid of it already: they saw the writing on the wall and that it wasn't sustainable. Fraternities have just been stubborn about it. And you're ifjt about it being all tradition. Anyone on the business/ legal side of it see it clear as day, and even some alumni are coming around now that they see it from the outside and with an adult's perspective. It is still tradition and also what people "expect" from frats when they go to college. That stereotype is alive and well and what a lot of people look for, so there's this fear that removing it removes the main identity of greek life, which may be true, but not a bad thing . I'd certainly prefer we have a better identity.

      Idk about your point of view but the dry houses on campus were always the darlings anyway for us. The sororities always wanted to have socials with those houses and spent more time there. Wet houses might be fun on a Friday night but they weren't typically filled with the type of person a bunch of women would want to hang out with on a Wednesday. I gravitated towards the dry houses. I found the composition of them to be better in all regards.

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    BIlllingtonAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 10:59am

    It certainly doesn't help that my home state didn't allow sorority houses to even exist until like three years ago.

    I'm guessing it wasn't the only state to have that rule.

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      Anna MerlanBIlllington
      1/20/15 11:03am

      Let me guess: laws against unrelated women living together to prevent brothels?

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      BIlllingtonAnna Merlan
      1/20/15 11:07am

      That's an urban legend, though I did hear that one all the time. I don't know why they were banned here, but no college I'm aware of back home had them back when I was in school.

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    CantremembermyusernameAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 11:07am

    The National PanHellenic Council is the umbrella org for the nine historically black fraternities and sororities. Pretty sure that's not the one you meant.

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      Anna MerlanCantremembermyusername
      1/20/15 11:12am

      Oop, yep, I meant Conference. I always fuck that up. Thank you!

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    DennisReynoldsGoldenGodAnna Merlan
    1/20/15 10:55am

    In my experience, women never buy enough alcohol for parties. It may be because until adulthood, they have been given free booze by guys and haven't really learned to gauge the correct amount of booze per person, but until I hit my mid twenties, every party ever thrown by women ran out of booze really early. I think it is another symptom of the patriarchy. It takes quite a bit of partying before you realize that having left overs is better than running out.

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      panUNDEADdroid7DennisReynoldsGoldenGod
      1/20/15 11:17am

      ...you've clearly never met any of the women I've been friends with at any given stage of my life...

      And this?

      It may be because until adulthood, they have been given free booze by guys and haven't really learned to gauge the correct amount of booze per person

      I...don't even...guess my lady friends and I must not be enough lady or something.

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      cameltoeDennisReynoldsGoldenGod
      1/20/15 11:31am

      For real? I'm notorious for always bringing too much alcohol for parties and ending up out of pocket. (I've also generally bought all my own drinks - no time for hanging round a bar giving guys eyes and trying to talk them into buying you booze, where is the fun in that?)

      Maybe the women you know did it as a ploy to stop people hanging around their house too late. Because thats quite clever...

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