CSUN Interfraternity Council Considers Banning Alcohol at Rush Week Parties

Fraternities at California State University, Northridge, may soon enact a policy that would ban the serving of alcohol at recruitment parties during rush week on campus.

Joe Miller, president of the Interfraternity Council at CSUN, said Thursday that the council is considering a ban on alcoholic beverages and that a decision will be made at the next council meeting April 1.

For the last few years, the 20 fraternities at CSUN have been independently banning alcohol during certain days of rush week, typically serving it only on weekends. But some students and administrators on campus have been pushing for a total ban, Miller said.

“We’ve really been evolving in this direction for quite some time,” Miller said. “We’d been going two wet nights and then five dry, or one dry and the rest wet, but now we might take some definite action.”

Growing Concern

The proposed ban comes at a time of increasing concern about alcohol on campus. Last year, in an attempt to reduce alcohol consumption during graduation ceremonies, school officials ordered commencement to be shifted from its normal 5:30 p.m. start to 9:30 a.m.

Then, a few months later, fraternities agreed to rules that restrict them from holding loud parties during the week and after midnight on the weekends. That decision was made after several residents of the community who live near fraternity houses complained of noise and trash stemming from parties where alcohol was consumed.

CSUN Greek Adviser Tom Piernik said that a “dry rush” policy has been enforced by about 250 universities across the country and is becoming an accepted practice.

“Eliminating alcohol is becoming a widespread phenomenon, and everybody seems to be in agreement that it’s the best thing to do,” Piernik said.

School administrators “absolutely support” a ban on alcohol during rush week, although the proposal being considered by the Interfraternity Council was not made at the request of the administration, Miller said.

Rush week is usually held at the start of every semester and is a time when fraternities entertain non-members, then select which students they will offer membership.