There will be no more free-hopping on the party bus this fall.
All eight National Panhellenic Council sororities at SMU recently agreed that predetermined guest lists be compiled prior to all events and turned into national headquarters. The policy was drafted to comply with national risk management policies.
Additionally, first-year women will not be allowed on guest lists of sorority or co-hosted fraternity events.
In efforts to prevent unnecessary alcohol related accidents, SMU sororities enacted their new policies as of Oct. 1.
The agreement also requires that sorority member’s names be on the list, and each member is limited to two guests.
Guest lists will be used to check admittance onto transportation to the event by off-duty SMU police officers who will give wristbands to people whose names are on the list.
If someone shows up to a party without a wristband, he will not be admitted at the door.
First-year women respond with mixed emotions.
“It gives us something to look forward to next year,” first-year Carrie Ince said. “We want to go to parties with the sorority girls, so the new rules are kind of frustrating, but I think it’s a good idea overall.”
Alpha Chi Omega president Janiece Lawver said that although the policy is new to the campus, it’s something we should have been doing for a long time.
Lawver said she’s not familiar with any other college campus in America that has the same kind of open-party structure that SMU had.
Many sororities were feeling pressure from nationals to implement stricter risk management policies to prevent serious liability placed on the sorority for party-goers who have too much to drink.
“If someone attends our party, gets sick and then drives home and hurts someone, the president of the sorority is held liable,” Lawver said.
Some SMU sororities have members sign a social contract saying that if they are too intoxicated to go home, they will find a responsible ride and not hold the sorority liable for any occurrences after leaving. But for non-members, there is no contract.
The growing concern of the council and national health officials to control the consumption of alcohol at parties isn’t a new trend.
An article published in early August by the American Medical Association called for the removal of the “party schools” ranking in Princeton Review.
According to the association’s A Matter of Degree program, the Princeton Review’s ranking is “misleading and gives college-bound students a skewed perception about partying on campus.”
“The Princeton Review should be ashamed to publish something for students and parents that fuels the false notion that alcohol is central to the college experience and that ignores the dangerous consequences of high-risk drinking,” said Richard Yost, PhD, director of AMOD and the AMA’s Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.
Princeton Review randomly surveys 65,000 students around the nation asking very specific, non-academic questions to compile the survey results.
The Princeton Review, which is known for its helpful guides on test taking, scholarship searches and the best colleges, is often criticized by colleges and other professional administrations for publishing the party schools list.
