The beer from the truck may no longer be going round and round fraternity parties. Now that the Interfraternity Council has been alerted that beer trucks violate a Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group policy, it seems unlikely that any such events will be sponsored by IFC fraternities this semester.
IFC President and Trinity senior Stephen Broderick noted that at least eight of IFC's 15 fraternities are bound by the FIPG standard. According to FIPG's risk management policy, "open parties, meaning those with unrestricted access by non-members of the fraternity, without specific invitation, where alcohol is present, shall be forbidden." Many other national fraternities have nearly identical policies, Broderick noted.
Broderick said he is frustrated that using beer trucks violates FIPG's policy, because fraternity members had been pleased with the arrangement.
"There is some disappointment that we may not be able to do it...," he said. Because of the urgency of the situation, Broderick added that, "We had not investigated what the insurance and liability aspects were."
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sue Wasiolek, who is also IFC's advisor, said the publicity surrounding beer trucks alerted the National Interfraternity Conference and FIPG about the violation.
"The beer truck brought a lot of attention to the situation, but [it] was not significantly different from [previous Duke policy]," Wasiolek said, noting that Duke has always valued open parties. She added that having a cash bar or a six-pack of beer at an open fraternity party would be equally unacceptable under the FIPG policy.
Based on the successful use of beer trucks at last semester's beer gardens and continuing University-wide attempts to rejuvenate on-campus social life, the University purchased a truck of its own for use at parties.
Dining Services' beer trucks allowed fraternities to have alcohol available at their events without actually providing it. But the National Interfraternity Conference-which is bound by FIPG-holds that even having a third vendor distribute alcohol at open fraternity parties is unacceptable by FIPG standards.
"There are better ways to build stronger relations other than being the alcohol supplier," said Matt Hamill, NIC's member services consultant. "Alcohol-free sponsored events combat the negative stereotypes that we are merely social organizations that can't have fun without alcohol."
But Broderick was quick to point out that the purpose of beer trucks was to ensure that fraternities were not the direct suppliers of alcohol.
Also, he said that the beer truck initiative was meant to complement University culture. "Open parties are the way things at Duke have always been done," he said.
Indeed, Wasiolek said the desire to maintain this environment is more important than fraternities' strict adherence to national policies, which are designed to prevent the liability risks associated with open parties.
"Fraternities as well as other student organizations have felt a commitment to promote community and community building," she said. "Despite the fact that fraternities are selective organizations, they've tried not to be more selective or elitist than their selective process requires them to be. As a result, they've continued to have open parties."
Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst said he is not concerned about Dining Services losing fraternities' business, even though several IFC-affiliated groups used the beer truck last semester.
"It should really not have a significant impact on the way we run the beer trucks. The truck was a minimal investment and it's used with many groups not connected to IFC," Wulforst said. "If I use it six or 12 less times a year, I still expect to be able to use that equipment for the next 10 years."
Katherine Stroup contributed to this story.
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