There were no major fraternity violations this weekend, marking a successful first few days of the Interfraternity Council's (IFC) new social policy.
Tom Piarulli, IFC vice president for risk management, went on patrol with several social event monitors to fraternities over the weekend and said he is impressed with the change in atmosphere.
"I actually myself was going around along with the security company and seeing just the overall change in attitude and how much calmer everything seems to be," Piarulli (senior-security and risk analysis) said. "Over time, we should see some pretty large changes in terms of safety and the actions that fraternities are taking themselves to make sure that events are safe."
The new policy, approved by the IFC President's Council in November, outlines several new regulations that the IFC hopes will tighten security and increase safety.
Social event monitors from a professional security company will visit each fraternity event twice throughout the night. Security will be present at the entrance and exit for the entire night, enforcing a designated guest list with a 300-person maximum, Piarulli said. The policy also bans away bars and Wednesday night socials.
If the social event monitors find a small violation, it will be reported to the IFC. But larger violations that endanger the safety of fraternity members and their guests will likely result in the event being shut down immediately, Piarulli said.
Organizers said fraternities are doing their part to enforce the policy.
Thursday night, social event monitors did not visit Sigma Nu fraternity, 340 N. Burrowes Road. But on Friday, Sigma Nu President Blake Bonnewell e-mailed Piarulli to let him know about the problem.
Bonnewell (junior-mechanical engineering) said he didn't think it was fair for some fraternities to be monitored while others are not.
"Every chapter wants to know that the other chapters are following the rules as well," he said.
State College Police Department Capt. Dana Leonard said he thinks the IFC is moving in the right direction, but it's too soon to tell whether the policy will result in a decrease in crime.
"We're most interested in people voluntarily complying with the law," he said. "Anything that can move us in the right direction, we support."
Andrew Fisher, president of Phi Kappa Tau, said he saw a definite improvement in safety and security as a result of the new policy.
"It kept potentially troubling incidents out of our house and away from people that weren't looking for problems, and also it just seemed like a safer environment," Fisher (junior-security and risk analysis) said. "You didn't see people stumbling in the streets. Overall, it seemed like safety was greatly improved."
IFC President Max Wendkos echoed the idea that the policy increased safety, saying parties were more controlled. Wendkos (senior-marketing and psychology) also said he's looking toward future improvement.
"Right now, our chapters are learning how to best operate within the guidelines of the new social policy," he said. "As they figure out best practices and share them with each other, I expect that we will continue to see improvements in how smoothly the policy operates."
