1998 Volume 121 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

LETTER5
Last call for alcohol-free housing letters
I AM NOT A MEMBER OF PHI
Delta Theta Fraternity. I have
never been initiated into Phi
Delta Theta Fraternity. My
sons are not members of Phi
Delta Theta Fraternity, which
in effect gives me no right to
have an opinion about Phi
Delta Theta Fraternity But I
do.
According to the history
recorded in BAIRD'S
MANUAL, 20th edition, Phi
Delta Theta Fraternity was
founded on friendship, sound
learning and moral rectitude.
Those founding principles
have met the test of time,
which is why this 149 year old
Fraternity exists today.
The decision to move back
to the three founding principles,
by providing an alcohol-free
environment and an
atmosphere of clear thinking,
integrity, support, and honor
through alcohol-free housing,
will, in my opinion, ensure
that the Phi Delta Theta experience
will be there for my
three-year old grandson,
Connor.
Why do I care I care because
I am a sorority woman.
I know that if Phi Delta Theta
doesn't survive, my own sorority
will not survive, we are
tied together in spirit, word
and deed. Why do I care Because
my sorority experience
was one of the most defining
times of my life, not because I
never went through a drinking
club "passage", but because
I was challenged,
supported and held accountable
for my choices and my
actions. I learned that one
does not live alone, but in
concert and concern for others.
I learned that the words
of my ritual were to become
the blueprint for my life.
Why do I care I care because
I am a parent, and as a
parent, I can only imagine
how it must feel to be called
and told that your son has
died of alcohol poisoning because
he was in a "rite of passage"
in his Fraternity.
I salute the leaders in this
great Fraternity who have
made the courageous decision
to return to the values upon
which Phi Delta Theta was
founded. This is the right
thing to do, but everyone
knows, the right thing is usually
the most difficult thing to
do. Thank you for doing the
right thing at the right time,
and having the conviction to
withstand the difficulties that
come with it.
MAUREEN SYRING
Syring is the former President
of Delta Gamma.
THE ARTICLES ON ALCOHOL-FREE
housing have been in my
thinking since they were
printed some months ago. I
attended the University of
Minnesota in the fall of 1936,
just two years after the end of
prohibition and about the
same time as the end of the
Depression.
I was invited into the Minnesota
Alpha chapter the
spring of 1937. That was the
era of formal fraternity and
sorority parties. I certainly
attended many of these functions,
two or three every
month, at which alcoholic
beverages were served. You
could purchase two bottles of
beer for a quarter and here
beer and alcohol (a prohibition
drink) was still in fashion
and obtainable. Alcoholic
beverages were not permitted
in fraternity and/or sorority
houses. This restriction was
strictly enforced by University
administration and also enforced
by officers of the Fraternity
and Sorority chapters.
This policy was still enforced
when I graduated after a fiveyear
program in the spring of
1941.
Alcohol-free housing
worked the five years I attended
the university. It was a
wonderful program and
should be enforced on every
campus now. It works. It is
hard for me to believe that
alcohol in the houses works
and why it prevailed to the
point it is now unless underage
drinkers forced the
change.
STANLEY F. DRIPS
Minnesota '41
IT HAS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR
since we embarked on an initiative
to remove alcohol from
our chapter houses and return
our
organization
to the
values upon
which we
were
founded.
This initiative
has not
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Dr. Deloian
only gained momentum
within Phi Deha Theta, but
has created an awareness of
the alcohol problem throughout
the Greek world.
All 66 national Fraternities
have now committed to
suport the alcohol-free housing
movement, and we are
assured that we will not be
alone when we make the
change in the year 2000.
Some of you have expressed
concern or disagreement
with this initiative
through the forum of this letters
page. Although we may
not have been able to answer
your concerns directly, you
can find continued reports on
the alcohol-free housing initiative
in the pages of this
magazine. Among the important
developments over the
past year are:
• The National Interfraternity
Conference and National
Panhellenic Conference
passed resolutions supporting
alcohol-free housing.
• Six other major fraternities
have joined us in this initiative
so far.
• Our alcohol-free chapters
reported significantly
higher recruitment totals this
fall.
• Chapters who decided to
remove alcohol from their
chapter houses this year received
a $20,000 grant.
• We have hired Tom
Balzer, an alumnus of the
University of North Dakota,
as the project coordinator for
this initiative.
• Other fraternities are
recognizing us as the leaders
in the Greek system.
At this point, the members
of the General Council feel it
is time to discuss other Fraternity
issues on this page
and have asked the editor of
The Scroll to begin publishing
letters on those topics. Letters
addressing the alcohol-free
initiative can be sent to the
General Headquarters and
will be forwarded to the General
Council.
ROBERT B. DELOIAN
Arizona State, '66
General Council President
Send letters to: Editor of The Scroll, 2 South Campus Ave., Oxford,
OH 45056. Fax (513) 523-9200, or email: scroll@pdt-ghq.com
THE SCROLL WINTER 1998 http://www.phidelt-ghq. com