Safety and Security is not imposing a curfew or changing its party-monitoring practices. A rumor circulating Wednesday and Thursday suggested that Safety and Security would shut down parties and require non-members to leave Greek houses by 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends, but College officials have confirmed that this is false.
“We’re not changing our practice whatsoever,” Safety and Security director Harry Kinne said.
The Dartmouth Review reported on Wednesday that the administration would begin enforcing the supposed curfew during Homecoming Weekend. Students also created a “Stop the Curfew at Dartmouth” group on Facebook.
The exact origins of the rumor remain unclear, but representatives from Safety and Security and the Greek Letter Organization and Societies said there have been no changes to policy or practice, nor are any planned in the near future.
Chet Brown ’15, president of Beta Alpha Omega fraternity, said he sent a screenshot of an email outlining this rumored policy to other Greek presidents on Wednesday.
“So it has just been brought to our attention that S&S has decided that today is the first day that they are enforcing a new SEMP policy,” the email read.
The email described the policy as prohibiting parties and drinking after 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends.
Brown said he did not receive the original email and could not identify its author. He said he had received a screenshot of the message, with a subject line reading “very important,” in a text and said he did not remember from whom.
The rumor of a curfew took the Greek community by storm, Brown said, noting that he was not surprised, considering the changes the Greek community is currently undergoing.
He said he has not noticed an increased Safety and Security presence at Greek social events.
“I have not experienced anything other than business as usual,” he said.
GLOS standards and management assistant director Sam Waltemeyer said he heard about the rumor for the first time Wednesday night. GLOS has had the same policy since 2011, he said, and no changes have since been made. He said that GLOS is not planning on changing its Social Event Management Procedures in the near future.
Current SEMP policy requires that social events be registered between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and between 12 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Groups wishing to hold an event fill out an online registration form, adhering to the policies put forward by GLOS.
Waltemeyer said that when Safety and Security becomes involved, it is usually at the end of an event to help clear people out of a house. There have not been many instances where registered events have lasted longer than they reported that they would, Waltemeyer said. If Greek organizations do not register an event or do not end an event on time, sanctions are handled on a case-by-case basis, usually by the judicial affairs office.
Kinne said Safety and Security follows the information they are given on social registration forms, using that as their cue for when a party should end.
“If it’s below the number of people that would qualify the congregation for an event, people can congregate any time of day or night they want,” Kinne added.
SEMP policy requires events with more than 50 people in attendance to be registered.
Social events must also comply with Hanover’s noise and fire restrictions established by the town of Hanover.
At a meeting with the Hanover Police chief and fire department chief on Oct. 6, Brown said he and other Greek leaders discussed community safety.
This term, Hanover fire department chief Martin McMillan and Hanover Police chief Charlie Dennis held three meetings with Greek organization representatives — advisors, house managers and presidents — to explain Hanover town policies regarding safety and occupancy in public spaces at Greek houses. McMillan said he is primarily concerned with situations where the occupancy limit of public assembly rooms in Greek houses is exceeded, which puts students at serious risk.
McMillan said he will shut down parties at Greek houses if they are overcrowded because this violates fire code.
“I want to treat everybody in a fair and equitable manner,” he said, “and not give a break to one organization or another and then hold somebody else accountable.”
Hanover Town manager Julia Griffin said the town does not restrict noise from Greek organization parties unless a neighbor files a noise complaint. If this occurs, Hanover Police will stop by the event and ask the hosts to lower the music, she said. If a second noise complaint occurs, or if the first noise complaint occurs after 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday or after 11 p.m. on Friday or Saturday, the police may be forced to turn off the music.
Groups may apply for a permit for outdoor activities, which allows them to have amplified music outdoors up until an established hour, Griffin said. Hanover Police Sgt. Brad Sargent said that the town receives requests for these outdoor activities permits frequently.
The town makes a noise ordinance exception for special weekends at Dartmouth, such as Homecoming, Winter Carnival and Green Key, when noise complaints will not be acted on until after 12 a.m. Before 12 a.m., Hanover Police may still request that noise be lowered, but will not shut down an event.
Griffin said that this is typically not a problem, especially at the College’s Greek houses. Sargent said Hanover Police rarely has problems dealing with noise complaints at Greek organizations, and when they do occur, Hanover Police first contacts whoever is responsible for the house.
“Over the 14 years I’ve been here, I don’t think we’ve ever had to cite a Greek house for violation of the town noise ordinance,” he said.
Griffin said the town deals with more noise issues at off-campus houses, where parties are often indoors. Indoor parties can be considered disorderly conduct and a “breach of peace” when loud noise made in a private setting can be heard in a public place, Sargent said.
“There’s no special differentiation in the town ordinance for matters involving noise or parties on campus and for groups off campus,” Sargent said. “It’s applicable throughout the town of Hanover.”
