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2A I Thursday, December 7, 2006 | The Red & Black Finals Edition
YEAR IN REVIEW
Frats still waiting for final offer
FILE | The Red & Black
▲ Sigma Chi is among the five fraternities the University
is evicting from Lumpkin Street. Sigma Chi has not
accepted a University offer to relocate on River Road.
Student death leads
to new alcohol policies
By JOE MASON
jmason@randb.com
Six fraternities are play
ing the waiting game as
University officials craft a
new offer to entice them to
move to River Road.
Rodney Bennett, vice
president for Student
Affairs, said he hopes early in
the spring semester the
University will present a new
offer to move the fraternities
to houses the University
would build and lease on
River Road.
Bennett said he has not
had any discussions with the
fraternities since they
responded to an Oct. 3 dead
line to accept the last River
Road offer.
The University has told
the fraternities they must
leave their Lumpkin Street
houses by June 2008.
Bennett said the
University may move that
deadline to a later date
because of the ongoing nego
tiations about the River
Road plan.
He said all the groups
likely would be given the
same move-out date, even if
they do not accept the final
River Road offer.
“We understand the
University is reviewing the
concerns that the fraterni
ties addressed back in
October and hopefully a new
offer will be forthcoming
shortly,” said John
McGoogan, chairman of the
alumni adviser board of Phi
Delta Theta.
“We continue to believe
that this issue will be
resolved to the mutual bene
fit of everyone involved,” he
said.
On Aug. 3, the University
offered a plan to construct
and lease University-owned
houses to five Lumpkin
Street fraternities and two
former River Road fraterni
ties.
Five fraternities declined
the offer, citing concerns
about building costs, operat
ing costs and the time line
for vacating existing houses.
One fraternity, Kappa Alpha,
rejected the offer because
the group already was com
mitted to building a new
house off campus.
A seventh fraternity,
Alpha Tau Omega, accepted
the offer. But Bennett later
said the fraternity had
instead accepted its own
counteroffer, which the
University did not recognize.
The University plans to
use the Lumpkin Street land
for new academic buildings.
“At this point our primary
focus will be with those
groups on Lumpkin Street,”
Bennett said.
One of those Lumpkin
Street groups will begin
developing its own off-cam
pus land at the end of
spring semester.
Kappa Alpha bought the
Cobb Hill Apartments on
Hancock Avenue, and the
fraternity is now working
with city and county plan
ners to finalize its building
permit, said Mark Cross,
chapter adviser for KA.
Cross said the fraternity
will tear down one of the
property’s four apartment
buildings at the end of the
spring semester to make
room for the new fraternity
house.
Because the fraternity
will not occupy the entire
lot, the other three apart
ment buildings will be leased
to residents again next year,
Cross said.
Matt Hunt, a member of
the board of trustees for
Alpha Tau Omega, said his
fraternity had accepted the
University’s River Road offer
but there are still issues that
need to be negotiated.
“(The University) ack
nowledged our interest and
desire to move back to River
Road. There continue to be
some points that need to be
negotiated,” Hunt said.
ATO now has a short
term lease for a house on
Milledge Avenue and is con
sidering alternatives to the
River Road plan.
“We’re always pursuing
other options,” Hunt said.
“We’d like to have a deal
sooner rather than later.”
By JESSICA LEVINE
jlevine@randb.com
In the wake of the high-
profile death of a freshman
last January, the University
revamped several alcohol
policies and programs over
the past year.
Lewis Fish, 19, died Jan. 22
after taking a combination of
alcohol, cocaine and heroin.
Although University offi
cials have been trying to
change the University’s party
culture for years, Fish’s
death, and the media blitz
that followed, helped bring
the issue to the forefront.
First, the University made
its alcohol policies stricter.
Now, students who violate
the University’s alcohol and
drug policies for the first time
are put on probation for the
remainder of the semester
and the next two semesters
and must take a mandatory
alcohol awareness class. The
students’ parents also are
notified.
If students commit a sec
ond offense while on proba
tion, they are suspended for
the remainder of the semes
ter and the following semes
ter.
Beginning next fall, stu
dents who return from sus
pension also must enroll in
“Back on TRAC,” an alcohol
awareness support program.
After the tougher alcohol
policies were enacted, a
University committee began
working on an amnesty policy
that would protect students
who seek medical treatment
from University punishment.
The amnesty policy still is
being discussed by the com
mittee and will continue to be
explored next semester.
A prevention program also
was implemented.
This semester, freshmen
and transfer students
younger than 23 were
required to take an online
alcohol education course and
pass a test to register for
classes.
“We were able to reach a
large number of students
with helpful information,”
said Erin English, alcohol and
other drug educator for the
University Health Center.
Carole Middlebrooks, di
rector of the State Network
for Substance Abuse Pre
vention In Higher Education,
said the changes have been a
successful step in changing
the campus drinking culture.
“They are making a clear
statement that this is an
important issue for the health
and welfare of our students,”
Middlebrooks said. “They will
be able to build upon what
they’ve been doing.”
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