Greek life regulations encourage safety using trained student monitors

A UC Berkeley fraternity house.

Mina Lavapies

The family of a UC Berkeley student who drowned at a fraternity party in November has filed a lawsuit alleging serious safety failures, raising broader questions about how fraternities manage risk at social events.

Even though fewer than 15% of students across California universities participate in Greek life, there is a complex system of national, local and university regulations governing affiliated chapters to ensure student safety. 

The Interfraternity Council, or IFC, is a national organization that governs and supports local chapters at universities. There is an IFC chapter and a Panhellenic Council that governs sororities at universities with at least two groups.

Additionally, each university outlines requirements for each chapter to remain in good standing. For example, UCLA requires chapters to submit a risk management plan before each social event, and San Diego State has a universitywide “dry period” for its recognized student organizations, including fraternities and sororities, that prohibits alcohol-related events between Aug. 1 and Oct. 1. 

Vital to each chapter’s success are the student-designated safety coordinators at fraternity events. 

James Islas is a former risk chair for the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity at UC Berkeley, where he acted as “the director of management policies to ensure that there’s safety and compliance with your chapter following the national standards of the IFC.” 

“Additionally,” he said, “we coordinate safety protocols and logistics for large-scale social events.” 

During chapter meetings, risk chairs are responsible for assigning sober monitor shifts and expectations for social events, as well as discussing the kinds of crises that might arise during a party. 

“Usually, for me, that includes going over different crisis response protocols. … I’ll usually give a quick explanation as to what to do if we see someone who is either overly intoxicated (or) experiencing a drug or opioid overdose,” Islas said.

Besides handling crises, sober monitors’ responsibilities include ensuring that all attendees are invited guests, no outside alcohol is brought in and beverages are properly served. 

“We have assigned sober monitors at every single social event … (to) assure that there’s someone who can respond to these situations,” Islas said. 

Risk practices differ between national chapters. Gabriel Oropeza Gonzalez, the vice president of health and safety at Theta Chi fraternity at UC Berkeley, is responsible for managing risk chairs and scheduling sober monitors. 

He coordinates trainings that fulfill the chapter’s “sacred purposes,” defined by the fraternity as alcohol and other drugs, fire and life safety, hazing prevention, sexual misconduct prevention, suicide prevention and mental health awareness. 

“With those sacred purposes, we’re supposed to coordinate some event that’s related,” he said. 

“For sexual misconduct prevention, we’ll have Path to Care come by to give a presentation on sexual violence and sexual harassment,” said Gonzalez, referring to the campus support center. 

Greek leaders, including the IFC, work closely with the university to implement risk and safety practices. Fraternity leaders meet weekly with Berkeley’s Fraternity and Sorority Life Office and UC Berkeley police and fire departments to provide information on upcoming social events. 

University-led safety trainings

Chapters affiliated with the university are required to send their fraternity presidents, social chairs and risk managers to mandatory “train-the-trainer” events that cover topics such as harm reduction and alcohol safety. 

UC Berkeley provides optional services to Greek chapters. Most notably, Bears That CARE is an undergraduate student program that offers educational workshops on topics such as alcohol safety, hazing and consent. Last year, the organization provided interactive workshops for 14 fraternity and sorority chapters.

“As part of such training, we teach participants how to identify alcohol-related emergencies using (an) intervention scale, and provide steps to both prevent escalation of a potentially harmful situation as well as respond effectively in case of an emergency” using first aid techniques,” Zaina Ghouri, Bears That CARE student staff coordinator, said in an email. 

Chapters can voluntarily sign up to receive Bears That CARE training. Moreover, there are dozens of regulations outlined in the university’s code of student conduct and the recognition agreement that a chapter must abide by to be recognized by the university. 

Some of the key points in the recognition agreement limit the time and manner of social events, outline the new member education program and encourage overall academic development. 

Jeff Woods, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UC Berkeley, said failure to comply with both agreements risks a chapter’s good standing with the university, and also its safety. When groups decide not to comply,  he said, they “do not take advantage of critical training and advisement … (which) potentially put students at risk and in unsafe situations by hosting parties and other social events that do not align with campus policies, practices and standards.”

Ultimately, he said, “The university has a responsibility to support students in creating both their fraternity and sorority experience.” 

Amanda McLeod is a second-year student at UC Berkeley studying political science and history, and a member of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps.