By Kristin Hawkins Cavalier Daily Staff Writer Stricter fraternity party patrol regulations spurred by a new Alcohol and Beverage Control officer have now been in effect two weeks. The new regulations, voluntarily implemented by the Inter-Fraternity Council governing board, call for fraternities to exercise greater vigilance over who is in attendance at parties.
Fraternities are expected to ask partygoers whether they are over the age of 21 and then check their student IDs. Each house also was encouraged to adopt stricter adherence to a guest list or invitation-only parties.
"Clearly brothers are more cautious about what is going on," IFC President Ross Kimbel said. The ABC officer "can arrest every person in the party who is underage and who has purchased alcohol for this type of distribution. There is a greater awareness of what we could lose."
Increased enforcement of alcohol-related laws has not been limited to fraternities. The Charlottesville Police Department reported 21 arrests near the University this weekend, most of which were alcohol-related. A representative of the police department said offenses included drinking in public, urinating in public, littering and possession of open containers of alcohol.
Two weeks into the new policies, the effect on campus life is ambiguous. There were fewer fraternity parties in the opening weekend of school this year, perhaps reflecting ambivalence about new enforcement, Kimbel said.
"I do think that if presidents were on the fence about whether or not to have a party opening weekend, they waited to come to the Presidents' Council meeting Thursday and hear about the new policy and the ABC Special Agent, Kevin Davis," Kimbel said. "However, there are no incidents [within the fraternity community] this weekend that I am aware of."
However, Kimbel did say that ABC officers could have attended parties and simply did not take immediate action.
Some say it is too early to assess the impact of the changes. Zeta Beta Tau president J. R. Futrell said his fraternity will not change its policy regarding who will be admitted to parties, though he did report that the fraternity has had to be "more vigilant" in light of the increased enforcement.
Partygoers said they noticed fewer parties and attendees than in previous years.
"There were fewer people out this weekend compared to what I remember from last year," third-year College student Michael Duane said. "There were fewer parties overall."
Other students said they experienced difficulties gaining admission to parties.
"It takes a lot longer to get in," second-year College student Sara Hutter said. "It takes forever."
A representative of the Office of Alcohol and Beverage Control was not available for comment.
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