Freshmen flocked to fraternities on Saturday with excitement of their first official night allowed on greek property.
And most of those freshmen were able to flock back.
In total, three students, including only one freshman, received alcohol violations, according to Angie Nally, director of Public Safety. Two of those students were transported to the hospital.
In total, three students received alcohol violations, including two who were taken to the hospital, according to Angie Nally, director of Public Safety. Three violations is a drastically lower number than the previous weekend's 11 alcohol-related citations. Nally attributed the low numbers to efforts from Public Safety and other organizations that have worked to monitors students' well-being in these social settings.
"I would like to attribute the fraternity risk management teams and the proactive efforts of the Campus Living and Committee Development Office in preparing fraternities for this past weekend," Nally said.
Cindy Babington, vice president of Student Life, shared similar praises about this past weekend. Her reports showed few interactions with students who had consumed high amounts of alcohol compared to the past weekends this semester, which attributed to the low-risk atmosphere.
Upperclassmen - including first-year mentors, first-year resident assistants and greek students - have spent the past six weeks providing useful information about this rite of passage. During freshmen orientation, mentors and RAs collaborated together in the production of "DePauw Gets Graphic," an educational program that illustrates realistic situations about the college social life and its consequences.
Public Safety and Community Standards representatives also went to every first year resident halls to discuss the dangers and consequences of underage drinking at the start of the semester, according to Babington.
In preparation for the weekend festivities, Greek Life Coordinator PJ Mitchell worked closely with fraternities to provide proactive education and effective risk management. Mitchell and the Office of Greek Life stress the importance of community responsibility with the entire student population in hopes that students make reasonable decisions and help one another.
Mitchell, who is involved in the programming of campus activities, felt the weekend was a success.
"We were lucky enough to have campus activities and IFC co-sponsor a pizza truck for the weekend," Mitchell said in an email interview. "People seemed to enjoy the late-night food and it provides a good place for people to kind of gather and bump into each other."
Many fraternity members mentioned the freshmen's uneasiness at the start of the festivities. Sophomore Charlie Parks, a member of Delta Upsilon, noted the slow progression from talking to dancing. As the night wore on, the freshmen became more confident and mingled with other students.
"They adapted quickly to their new environment," said junior Rick Allen of Delta Upsilon.
The members of Sigma Nu fraternity wanted to offer first years a relaxed non-alcohol related atmosphere. Video games were set up upstairs while dancing and card games occurred downstairs. Senior Austin Bonta noted that his fraternity has a policy about the balance between alcohol and non-alcohol related events. This unorthodox method proved to be advantageous for the event, he said.
"We didn't know what to expect, but we had about thirty to forty people come throughout the night," Bonta said. "I would say it was a pretty successful night because people had a good time. I think that's the measure of a good party."
Registered parties, meaning a party has been approved through IFC, are now officially open to all DePauw students. As freshmen continue to visit Greek property, Mitchell advises first years to exercise moderation.
"The fraternity experience is about far more than just social events," Mitchell said. "First-year students should take this time to learn a little more about what that is and the men of the fraternity community need to continue to work hard to ensure their organizations are really representing what they are all about."