Fraternity implements substance-free policy

Story by Destinee Marking, Staff writer 

Sigma Phi Epsilon will become the first fraternity on Murray State’s campus to ban alcohol. The organization’s national headquarters announced on Nov. 8 that alcohol will be completely banned from chapter homes by 2020.

“Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) national fraternity announced that it has adopted a substance-free policy for all Fraternity facilities throughout its network of 215 chapters at colleges and universities in the United States,” the announcement read.

Caleb Coomes, Murray State’s SigEp president, said this resolution was voted on by the undergraduate members and passed in August.

Prior to the Substance-free Facilities policy, Coomes said Murray State SigEp members already follow strict rules.

“In somewhere like Murray, where most all of the fraternity houses are off campus, all the rules of the state and the city are followed first,” Coomes said. “Then if nationally, they restrict anything further, we follow that.”

Coomes said this means that starting in August, anything involving alcohol, such as parties, cannot be held on the fraternity’s property; these events will have to be held elsewhere. He said they will however, still be able to hold social events.

This announcement was not in direct response to the recent incident at Florida State University that left a fraternity pledge dead, but Coomes said occurrences like this prove the need to take action.

“We decided that it’s time for a change,” Coomes said. “We’re not the first, but we want to help lead that change and show there’s a better way of how we can do things.”

As of Nov. 6, all Greek life at Florida State was suspended indefinitely.

Coomes said he and others want to avoid such restrictions at Murray State. He said Greek life is more than the negative things that are reported; members get philanthropy and networking experience.

Kim Newbern, coordinator of Greek life and student leadership programs, said this policy will help Murray State’s Greek life community promote more so what it already does.

“Our Greek life Community promotes an atmosphere where chapters and individuals can excel in leadership, scholarship, service and philanthropy and personal growth,” Newbern said.

She said chapter advisers and consultants will be responsible for enforcing this new policy.

“They work very close with their chapters to make sure they adhere to policies,” Newbern said. “In the case of SigEp, the National Fraternity will provide training for chapters and alumni volunteers who need help implementing this policy.”

As this policy is intended to create safer environments and attract prospective members to SigEp, Newbern said this policy should not negatively affect future SigEp recruitment.

“SigEp’s nationally reported data shows that chapters that have some sort of substance-free policy actually have higher GPAs, higher recruitment/membership and fewer insurance claims,” Newbern said. “This policy is meant to create a new pool of potential members who are attracted to SigEp’s values.”

Coomes said the new policy may make SigEp uninteresting to students who are looking to join Greek life for the party scene, but these are not the ideal recruits.

“These changes will just be a different way of going about our social events and not negatively affecting us socially, but only promoting and creating an environment of learning, leadership and development to which every Greek organization should strive to create themselves,” Coomes said.

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