As nighttime parties return to Webster Avenue, Dartmouth’s eight sororities have issued a list of interim requirements for social gatherings held in conjunction with fraternities, effective as of July 8. The short, partially redacted list of four rules, which was sent to fraternities over the past week, was obtained by The Dartmouth, and its authenticity was confirmed by Inter-Sorority Council president Molly Katarincic ’22.
The three unredacted requirements on the list state that “phone numbers and names of on-duty executives” of hosting houses must be sent to visiting houses before an event, that hosting houses “must have non-alcoholic drinks or water readily accessible” and that visiting houses will “communicate the number of members they would like to have on risk duty prior to the event.”
Katarincic said that the list is a “first draft,” prepared by the summer leadership of the sororities, that is intended to provide some guidance until a more complete list of rules can be issued.
“This abridged version is ... what the Class of ’23 leadership felt was necessary to keep people safe [from sexual and gender-based violence] in the interim,” Katarincic said. “So, this is kind of a list of things that we think get at the most important standards that we’re trying to set, and ones that were also possible to implement in the short term.”
The sororities are creating new regulations in response to “numerous alleged incidents” of sexual and gender-based violence in both fraternities and sororities, as well as “general feelings of anxiety and feeling unsafe in Greek spaces on campus,” she said.
“So many incidents coming to light in the past two weeks, regardless of when they occurred, is sort of sparking the realization that widespread action needs to be taken,” Katarincic said.
A fourth, partially redacted requirement stipulates that something — the word has been removed — “must be made in the presence of a member from both the hosting and visiting” houses. Katarincic declined to comment on the requirement or the redaction.
The full list, she said, will include three categories of rules. “Physical space” rules will set requirements for infrastructure such as lights, entry and exits, “responsible individuals” rules will govern sober monitors and individuals on risk management duty and “alcohol policy” rules will cover the accessibility of non-alcoholic beverages, the “quantity” of alcohol served and “spaces” in which alcohol is served.
Katarincic said she hopes that the full list will be available to fraternities this week, but that sorority leadership is still finalizing both the requirements themselves and how they will be enforced on fraternities. Houses do not have the power to prevent individual members from attending events that do not meet the requirements, she said, but houses can cancel their official cooperation with fraternities that do not comply. A sticking point, she added, is whether all sorority houses would boycott fraternities that do not comply or only the house that was planning an event with the non-compliant fraternity.
According to Phi Delta Alpha fraternity summer president Hayden Welty ’23, these interim rules have already been implemented at Phi Delt. At “Reds,” a Phi Delt social event on Monday evening advertised in group chats and on the campus events listserv, all interim guidelines and “a number of extra guidelines developed from conversations with sorority executives, fraternity executives, and our membership” were in place, according to an emailed statement from Welty. The statement did not elaborate on the additional guidelines.
Katarincic said that she was planning to meet with the leadership of gender-inclusive Greek houses and houses in the National Pan-Hellenic Council on Monday evening to discuss incorporating those houses into the planning process.
Members of the summer leadership of all eight sororities declined to comment or did not respond to multiple requests for comment, as did several members of the summer leadership of multiple fraternities, summer ISC president Walker Wickland ’23 and summer Interfraternity Council president Yee Nok Law ’23. The Office of Greek Life and a representative of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault also did not respond to requests for comment.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
