It’s 2 a.m. Saturday. An intoxicated student stumbles out of a local bar, located too far away from campus to make it a walk back.
What does the student do to get home? Flag down an expensive cab? Wait for a sober friend to pick him up?
No. Many DU students after a night of drinking will climb into a car and drive back to campus drunk. This scenario is increasingly common at DU because the 13 fraternities and sororities went dry in 2001.
So does a dry Greek system increase the chances that students will drive while intoxicated? Interviews at both the fraternity and sorority houses show that not only do people drink and drive regularly, but incidences may have increased.
“I don’t know for sure, but I feel that over the three-and-a-half years I’ve been here there has been an increase in drunk driving” said a sorority member. “No one has anywhere to go on campus anymore…so people drive off campus and then drive back. Especially now that the school is cracking down on house parties, it has gotten worse.”
According to sources in the Greek system, reverting to the “wet” Greek system of old would, among other things, have a positive impact on drunk-driving incidents.
“[A wet campus] would decrease the incidents of drunk driving and would improve the relations among the fraternities,” said a fraternity member. “Also, it would provide a sense of community on the DU campus.”
Though the Greek system and some students agree on the drunk driving/ dry Greek House connection, school administrators are not so convinced. Daniel Kast, director of Citizenship and Community Standards, doesn’t see a problem with the current policy.
“It would be really naCB/ve to claim that students don’t make the choice to drink and drive. We have to be realistic and obviously, some people do,” he said. “But the fact that some people break the law to get around our policies won’t cause us to change them.”
Regardless of whether the statistics on drinking and driving really are up, the bottom line is, Kast and the Greeks agree, a dry fraternity and sorority scene will invariably result in drunk driving. Senior Allison Mclane, 21, served two nights in jail for driving under the influence in her junior year. She also believes that the dry Greek system makes drinking and driving easier to fall into, but she advocates different solutions than on-campus parties. Mclane was adamant about bringing her story to the public so what happened to her would not happen to anyone else.
“DU needs to do something about the drinking and driving,” she said. “I’m not saying that they should allow us to have campus parties, but something like that downtown shuttle system that they used to have might work.”
She said, “Everyone seems to have that attitude of ‘it won’t happen to me’. I’m trying to make people more aware of the severe consequences of drunk driving and how it can really change your life.”
Half of those interviewed had a drunk driving experience, but only Mclane would give her name. change them.”
Regardless of whether the statistics on drinking and driving really are up, the bottom line is, Kast and the Greeks agree, a dry fraternity and sorority scene will invariably result in drunk driving.
Senior Allison Mclane, 21, served two nights in jail for driving under the influence in her junior year. She also believes that the dry Greek system makes drinking and driving easier to fall into, but she advocates different solutions than on-campus parties. Mclane was adamant about bringing her story to the public so what happened to her would not happen to anyone else.
“DU needs to do something about the drinking and driving,” she said. “I’m not saying that they should allow us to have campus parties, but something like that downtown shuttle system that they used to have might work.”
She said, “Everyone seems to have that attitude of ‘it won’t happen to me’. I’m trying to make people more aware of the severe consequences of drunk driving and how it can really change your life.”
Half of those interviewed had a drunk driving experience, but only Mclane would give her name.
