10/22/97

By David Granger (grangdm@mail.auburn.edu)

AUBURN FRATERNITIES DEALING WITH ALCOHOL PROBLEM

AUBURN -- Three Auburn University fraternities have joined Farmhouse in taking the lead in the AU Greek community's movement toward alcohol-free housing.

The Auburn Farmhouse chapter has been alcohol-free since receiving its charter in 1972, and AU's Sigma Nu, Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Delta Theta fraternities have either initiated or are working toward bans on alcohol in their houses. All Phi Delta Theta facilities are dry, Sigma Nu's main house is dry and Phi Gamma Delta has committed to being alcohol-free by the year 2000.

Nationally, fraternities are taking a hard look at the alcohol use on their premises in response to recent highly publicized alcohol-related deaths at Louisiana State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Jim Hardin, assistant director for Student Life at AU.

"Fraternities' use of alcohol is something I think will continue to gain increased attention nationwide," Hardin said. "We're glad to see some prominent fraternities here at Auburn make this commitment."

Farmhouse is the Greek standard-bearer for alcohol-free housing at Auburn, said Robert Gwaltney, president of the AU Farmhouse chapter. And he's glad to see that other fraternities are taking steps to improve the public's perception of the Greek community.

"I think this is a positive move for the Greek system here at Auburn," Gwaltney said. "The public's perception of fraternity life is basically formed by the news of these alcohol-related tragedies and it's unfair because we do a lot of positive things for our universities and our communities. We need to take these steps so the public's focus will be shifted to the more positive aspects of the Greek system."

Hardin said that other fraternities, such as Sigma Nu, Phi Delta Theta and Phi Gamma Delta, face a stiff challenge since alcohol has long been a part of their cultures.

"Certainly, not all members of these fraternities drink, but studies have shown there's more drinking among Greeks than among the general student population --- not just at Auburn, but nationwide," Hardin said. "Of course, the real benefits of the fraternity system far outweigh any drawbacks and the fraternities making the move to ban alcohol will hopefully increase their emphasis on those benefits."

Ryan Duncan, president of AU's Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, or Fijis, agreed that the emphasis should be on positive aspects of fraternity life. The international Phi Gamma Delta office has adopted a provision to make all its chapters alcohol-free by 2000 after the fraternity was rocked by last month's binge-drinking death of a Fiji at MIT.

"When a member of our own organization died, even though it was a long way away, it really brought the seriousness of binge-drinking home for our chapter," Duncan said. "Although the ban won't affect a lot of the current members, we've talked a lot about it and I personally talked to a lot of prospective pledges about it. The ban didn't seem to be that big of a deal to them. They realize that, at least as far as the Fijis are concerned, we're about much more than that."

Auburn's Phi Delta Thetas, back on campus this year after being banned following the alcohol-related death of Chad Saucier in 1993, are already alcohol-free, the result of a mandate from the national office some two years ago. Jeffrey Feagin, president of the AU Phi Delts, said he is excited about the fraternity's future without alcohol.

"Because of the no-alcohol policy, we rush (recruit) a different kind of student," Feagin said. "But our rush numbers are up. In fact, we have about 50 chapters across the country that are substance-free and rush numbers are up at most of them.

"I think parents have become more involved in their children's selection of a fraternity and the substance-free chapters are attractive to them. And we've been getting more scholarly pledges, students more interested in getting a good education and a good job. I think that recent events will dictate that more fraternities begin to take the same approach, including the alcohol ban.

"I'm excited about our future and the future of the fraternity system at Auburn."

oct97:AU-dryfrats

CONTACT: Hardin, 844-4710.