It's final: Greek houses to go dry.

Byline: GREG BOLT The Register-Guard

Drink up brothers, for the end is near.

University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer on Friday approved a booze ban for all campus Greek organizations, which means Prohibition will hit the dozen or so UO fraternities that still allow drinking come this December. The decision makes the university one of only a handful of institutions nationwide to ban alcohol at all fraternities and sororities.

The rules require all Greek chapters to provide the university with written agreements by Sept. 1 committing to being alcohol- and illegal substance-free. In addition, chapters will have to maintain grade-point averages at least as high as the overall university average and will have to make stronger commitments to community service and chapter leadership.

Frohnmayer said the rules are nothing new and noted that they have been recommended standards for years. But he said the old system of allowing the Greek organizations to monitor alcohol use on their own had failed and that he didn't want to wait for someone to be hurt before taking action.

"We are not breaking from a policy which we have encouraged for some time," he said. "But given that problems in those houses that have not signed on (to a voluntary alcohol ban) have become exacerbated, we think there are serious health risks and tragedies waiting to happen that we are going to try everything in our power to prevent."

Frohnmayer said he wasn't swayed by the two alcohol-related deaths of Oregon State University students during the past two years or by his own decision last year to join the Delta Upsilon fraternity, which is dry. He said one of his biggest concerns was that rules intended to make off-campus Greek parties safe and legal were being openly ignored and violators faced no consequences.

"The worst thing about it from my standpoint is it ran the risk of being a hypocritical policy," he said. "There was conscious evasion of the rules and deliberate violations. I don't think a university can tolerate that."

Also, Frohnmayer pointed out the university isn't imposing an alcohol ban. Fraternities can choose to stay wet, but those that do will lose the services they now receive from the university, such as help recruiting members, free use of campus athletic fields and meeting rooms as well as membership and educational programs.

Houses that refuse to go dry also would lose university endorsement, which is almost always a death knell. National fraternal organizations rarely allow chapters that lose university affiliation to remain open, so the alcohol rules are effectively mandatory.

Many student officers in the Greek system support the alcohol ban. Some contend it will level the playing field between fraternities that already are dry and those that have stayed wet, while others believe it will improve the Greek system's reputation, shift the focus to leadership, brotherhood and community service and make it easier to recruit new members.

But others aren't so sure. Even members of dry houses question whether the university should be setting the rules for people who live in privately owned, off-campus houses.

"I think that if the university wants to work with us to set house rules, I'm OK with that," said Brandon Cresswell, chapter president at the Alpha Sigma Chi house, which is dry. "But I don't want them to be set down in a decree."

Sigma Chi recently re-established its house after being absent from campus for several years. But the university required it to be dry as a condition for reopening.

Cresswell said he was disappointed that Frohnmayer chose to impose the rules without sitting down with fraternity members first to discuss alternatives. He said the university isn't treating students like adults.

"Instead, I feel like they're just restricting us like children," Cresswell said. "I am disappointed. I do feel respect is earned, and it's hard to respect someone who I don't feel respects me."

Steve Frichette, who contracts to manage three fraternity houses, said he supports the ban but understands why some fraternity members are concerned. He said the ban will apply to everyone, even the small percentage of students who are of legal drinking age.

"The problem is, you've got a guy who's 21, pays rent and can't drink in his own room," said Frichette, who is also the chapter adviser at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a dry house.

"Show me another housing situation in Oregon where you can be 21, pay rent and not drink in your own room. That's really the biggest downside to it."

But he said that while fraternities could lose some seniors, they may be able to attract more freshmen. He said parents will see it as a positive change, and having one rule that's the same for all houses won't give wet houses a recruiting advantage.

"I will abide by it enthusiastically," Frichette said. "The seniors can go to Taylor's and get drunk and come back."