ALCOHOL & DRUG FREE HOUSING

Overview of Alcohol-Free Housing in Theta Chi Fraternity

In July 1998, at the 142nd Anniversary Convention of Theta Chi Fraternity, 61% of the voting delegates voted to approve the LEAD Resolution, which included a provision mandating that alcohol-free housing be implemented in all undergraduate Theta Chi chapters by July 2003.

As part of this resolution, it was mandated that all new or recolonized chapters be alcohol free, which is the case for the Gamma Lambda Chapter.

Alcohol-free housing is not new to men's fraternities, but it is an issue that fraternities have not considered for many years. Theta Chi Fraternity is no different. Legislation was passed on April 7, 1917 at the 61st Anniversary Convention that prohibited the use of alcoholic beverages in chapter houses and at all fraternity functions. This alcohol-free policy for Theta Chi did not change until the 94th Anniversary Convention on September 9, 1950, 33 years after it was enacted.

Why Alcohol-Free Housing?

During the 1990's, many fraternities, including Theta Chi, faced many challenges including:

• Declining membership,
• Poor recruitment and retention of new members,
• Low grades,
• Poor reputation,
• Numerous incidents involving the use and misuse of alcohol,
• Decreasing accountability in chapters for members who violate rules,
• Declining conditions of chapter houses
• An increasing number of restrictions placed upon fraternities and sororities by our host institutions in response to these problems.

These challenges have called for men's fraternities to consider new programming in an attempt to reverse the negative effects brought on by this trend. Theta Chi Fraternity is one of 11 inter/national men's fraternities to adopt alcohol-free housing initiatives to address these challenges. Other fraternities adopting alcohol-free housing initiatives include:

Alpha Kappa Lambda www.akl.org
Delta Sigma Phi www.deltasig.org
Delta Upsilon www.deltau.org
FarmHouse www.farmhouse.org
Kappa Delta Phi www.kappadeltaphi.org
Phi Delta Theta www.phideltatheta.org
Phi Gamma Delta www.phigam.org
Phi Kappa Sigma www.pks.org
Phi Kappa Theta www.phikappatheta.org
Sigma Nu www.sigmanu.org

How are Alcohol-Free Housing Chapters Doing?

Contrary to many arguments stating that alcohol-free housing will "kill" a chapter, most alcohol-free housing chapters are thriving. Overall, alcohol-free chapters continue to outperform the chapters who have not adopted alcohol-free housing in terms of recruitment, scholarship, and risk management.

For Gamma Lambda, alcohol-free housing has had a significant and especially powerful impact. Since returning to DU, the Gamma Lambda Chapter of Theta Chi has maintained the highest GPA among men's fraternities on campus, well above the all-men's average. Also, we are able to keep our insurance rates down and thus lessen the burden on the brother with lower dues. We greatly respect our house and want to keep it a safe and livable place for all to feel comfortable in. We take pride in the cleanliness of our house.

Consider the following statistics:

• Recruitment

Since 1998, Theta Chi non-AFH chapters experienced an average growth of 8%.

Since 1998, Theta Chi AFH chapters have experienced and average membership growth of 31%.

• Scholarship

During the 2000-01 academic year, non-AFH chapters achieved a chapter GPA of 2.656*.
27 of 101 chapters reporting

During the 200-01 academic year, AFH chapters achieved a chapter GPA of 2.735*.
28 of 37 chapters reporting

• Risk Management

Since 1998, Theta Chi's non-AFH chapters have experienced the following:
16 Claims
4 Lawsuits
19 Reorganizations
20 Revocations of Charters

Since 1998, Theta Chi's AFH chapters have experienced the following:
2 Claims
1 Lawsuit
1 Reorganization
1 Revocation of Charter
Alpha Iota/Indiana University (Charter revoked by the Grand Chapter on February 15, 2001 for violating conditions of probation related to the use of alcohol in the house.)