If only.
Crammed inside a fraternity brother’s room, Weinberg freshman Megan Olsen carefully listens for the special knock signifying to her and other party goers that the Interfraternity Council, a board made up of Greek life students to monitor fraternity activities, has left. When the knock comes, safety is assured. The party continues.
This scene is all too familiar to students that frequent the frat scene. Parties get too rowdy, IFC comes knocking, Busch cans and red Solo cups are thrown out, and students are hastily concealed in rooms that can’t be inspected. “It wasn’t anything new to them,” Olsen says. “But they weren’t joking around.” And when things do go wrong—the brothers aren’t quick enough, a drunken attendee is too loud—and alcohol is found, fraternities enter the murky realm of probationary status.
The decidedly vague terms involved with probation allow brothers to create their own rules or simply find ways to skirt enforcement. And the degree with which fraternities across campus focus on risk management reflects the not-so-well-kept-secret that probation is a rule that’s often broken.
There’s a disconnect between several official sources when it comes to how many fraternities are on probation.
“It’s kind of a silly, kind of a worthless system,” says Sam, the president of a fraternity that’s been on probation for much of his three years at Northwestern. “Certain frats will work around the rules. Some will pay strict attention. It’s highly dependent on the culture within the fraternity.”
There are two different types of probation: disciplinary and social. Disciplinary probation differs little from standard university regulations, including no alcohol in fraternity houses. Social probation is stricter and forbids parties and formals, among other things. For Alex, president of a different fraternity on probation, his chapter’s response depends on the type of probation. On disciplinary probation, he says brothers don’t feel like they need to change their way of life.
There’s a disconnect between several official sources when it comes to how many fraternities are on probation. For this story, all IFC frats with the exception of Evans Scholars, Phi Mu Alpha and recently revived Delta Tau Delta were contacted. Out of those who responded, two chose not to comment and four chose to participate anonymously. Attempts to reach the Office of Greek and Sorority Life to confirm the number and names of frats on probation were met with concerns of releasing sensitive information.
According to Sam, all but three fraternities are on probation this quarter. Dean of Students Burgwell Howard says that more than half of Northwestern’s 17 fraternities are on probation. The IFC, however, says that five fraternities are on probation. The uncertainty continues with the terms of probation. The details of disciplinary probation are not disclosed; and once on social probation, fraternities only receive a letter containing a short list of restricted activities.
“My job is to remind people that if you fuck anything up, we’re all fucked.”
It’s common for fraternities to be on probation, and it’s equally common for them to learn to adapt to restrictions. Sam says that “to take a sanction such as social probation seriously is not necessarily to abide by its terms.” Instead, frats devise their own risk management systems which they put faith in to support a social scene at NU. Sam and his brothers take pride in the fact that they haven’t had further trouble with the administration, and attribute this to their effective risk management system.
To avoid getting caught, brothers in this frat will tape up the windows, guard the door and refuse to serve jungle juice. According to Sam, any frat’s biggest issue with risk management stems from a passive attitude with regard to how alcohol is served. Put simply: students who consume too much jungle juice are at risk of ending up in the hospital. “That needs to be taken in to account, the realization that people don’t know how to drink and you have to figure out how to not encourage over-consumption,” Sam says. “My job is to remind people that if you fuck anything up, we’re all fucked.”
“While we were on probation, we were in much more of a lockdown mode.”
Michael Campos was a freshman when Sigma Chi was on probation. Now a senior, he recalls how being on probation brought him and his brothers closer together. They emphasized “low-key” hanging out and extending the risk management to more than two people.
“While we were on probation, we were in much more of a lockdown mode,” Campos says. “It was an expansion of risk management beyond a few people.”
Probation is the Greek scene’s elephant in the room, and people seem fine with it that way. With risk management systems in place, fraternities plan for the worst and hope for the best. Or as Campos puts it, “We try not to think too deeply on these things.”
