The Interfraternity Council voted Thursday night to ban the distribution of alcohol at fraternity parties in exchange for a bring-your-own-beverage policy.
The new policy, which will go into effect this fall, allows beer, wine coolers and unfortified wines to be brought into open fraternity parties. Hard liquor and fortified wines, such as Cisco and Mad Dog, will also be allowed at closed parties.
The move to a BYOB policy puts the University's residential fraternities in line with their national bylaws, which prohibit the free distribution of alcohol at parties and the distribution of beer from kegs. It also follows state laws, which prohibit cash bars in non-licensed facilities.
"We could have just decided to not fall under national bylaws," said Trinity junior Tom Post, IFC public relations chair. "But that is just not a healthy situation and we didn't want to risk those consequences."
The IFC policy comes on the heels of a proposed University-wide alcohol policy which would allow kegs and cash bars at campus parties but would require that alcohol be distributed by a University-approved bartender. However, since fraternity parties will be BYOB, they will not need to be monitored by bartenders.
Although a BYOB policy may seem foreign to many Duke students, more than 700 colleges and universities use such a policy for their fraternity parties, said Trinity junior Lex Wolf, IFC president.
"The success of those 700 schools makes it obvious that we can have a healthy, active social scene even if it's different from what we've had in the past," Wolf said.
By freeing up a significant chunk of fraternity dues, the BYOB policy also paves the way for more diverse social programming on the part of fraternities, such as live bands, Post said.
The IFC is hoping that the administration will also work to ensure that the campus' social options are strengthened and widened, Post said.
"We want the University to take a more active role in programming," he said. "Up until now, the bulk of providing social outlets has been left to fraternities."
The IFC would also like to see the University take steps to lower the rental prices for band equipment and increase the number of nights living groups can hold parties. The current noise policy, which Wolf called "antiquated," only allows parties on Friday and Saturday nights.
The new IFC policy has drawn praise from many fraternity members, who said that they are relived to see an end to their role as the campus suppliers of alcohol.
"I think parties will have a much healthier environment and you'll see less people walking around obliterated, and that's what I'm most looking forward to," said Trinity junior Josh Lutzker, a member of Phi Kappa Psi.
Brothers are also banking on a BYOB policy to decrease the frequency and severity of fraternity parties' negative side effects.
"This will definitely lessen the occurrences of freshmen being taken to the emergency room on Saturday nights," said engineering junior and Kappa Alpha member Peter Bryan. Lutzker added that, "the situation was a ticking bomb before, because our insurance wasn't going to cover us because we weren't following national bylaws. As great as it is to free up all that dues money, the liability issue was a more important one."
Many brothers also said they are not concerned that the campus' social life will die out as a result of the changes. "I think open parties are still going to exist as we know them as far as the number of people," said Trinity junior Ryan Simovitch, a member of Delta Sigma Phi. "Alcohol just won't play as important a role, and I think the fraternities will be seen more as a place to get together than as a place to get drunk. It will be more of a true social outlet."
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