UM-C fraternities issue alcohol ban at homes

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Fraternities at the University of Missouri-Columbia will ban alcohol on all fraternity property beginning Aug. 1.

The only exception to the ban will be approved weekend gatherings for alumni. Fraternity houses will still be allowed to sponsor offsite parties where alcohol is served.

Matt Daggett, president of the Interfraternity Council and a member of Alpha Tau Omega, said fraternity chapter presidents approved the new policy last week.

"When you get down to the numbers, since there are very few 21-year-olds in the houses, it doesn't affect that many people. But the idea of alcohol-free housing will have a much larger effect," Daggett said.

Daggett said the ban was based on data from other universities and the 15 Missouri fraternities that are already dry. That data showed that banning alcohol increases academic performance, lowers insurance costs and makes it easier to recruit pledges, he said.

"The stereotypes of fraternity and frat guys have always been based on alcohol and Animal House," said Ricky Bridgman, president of Pi Kappa Alpha and a supporter of the new policy, "and high school students have never seen the positive benefits" of joining a fraternity.

Missouri fraternity houses are not on university property, so campus prohibitions on alcohol don't apply. Sororities have been alcohol-free for decades.

Oren Jacobson, president of Kappa Alpha Order, said the policy would not stop a fraternity member who insists on drinking in the house.

"If I were writing the policy, honestly, I wouldn't change it from what it is right now," Jacobson said. "What I would do, however, is try to find a way to make the current policy more effective in dealing with major incidents."

Daggett said the newest policy is simple and would be easy to enforce. The executive boards of each of the 26 Missouri fraternities will be responsible for enforcing the ban. Anyone can report potential violations to the Interfraternity Council, which then would forward the charges to a judicial board. That board would issue a finding and impose a punishment for the offending fraternity.