Students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. (John Loo/ Creative Commons)

Imagine a Greek party without shots, kegs, hard liquor or popular drinking games. What’s left is a Cal Poly San Louis Obispo-approved frat party. 

Following a month-long probation, Cal Poly joined several universities across the nation with stricter party policies on Greek life.

Although new registration guidelines were approved by both the university and Greek organizations, several Cal Poly students are questioning its effectiveness at targeting alcohol-related incidents.

The regulations, enacted earlier this month, limit the days and times when parties may be held, while banning shots, pitchers, beer bongs, cases of beer and any other behavior that may "encourage" intoxication.

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Parties are also required to be registered at least 10 days in advance if they exceed 100 people and five days in advance if fewer than 100 people. A guest list must be submitted to the university 24-hours prior to a party with any students 21 and older required to state their date or birth.  

“I don’t see how they can enforce rules like these when they’re so vague,” Cal Poly sophomore Adam Redding-Kaufman said. “If 10 people are gather at a house, does that mean it’s a party that needs to be registered? It’s just not clear enough.”

Redding-Kaufman was one of many Cal Poly students that have apprehensions about the new polices. He was also concerned about the policy's amnesty item, because he felt it may encourage fraternities to think twice about seeking medical attention for students who are intoxicated.   

The policy states: 

Upon investigation, if it is determined that an individual did not have access to alcohol at an event and the chapter acted responsibly to ensure said individual received medical attention, the chapter will be treated as a sole entity and would fall under the amnesty policy afforded to individual students.

“Fraternities who know a student is seriously intoxicated, may not consider it an emergency if they think their chapter will be penalized,” Redding-Kaufman said. 

Sharing Redding-Kaufman's concern, Cal Poly sophomore and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity member, Nadav Laemmle also commented on the amnesty policy.

“People are less likely to call an ambulance or take safety measures if they are worried about getting in trouble from the school," Laemmle said. “If there were less strict punishments for partying in Greek life, fraternity and sorority members would have less to fear in keeping their friends safe.”

Participating in the day-to-day Greek life at Cal Poly, Laemmle went on to share his feeling on the new guidelines. 

“The new restrictions are unnecessary and unrealistic,” Laemmle said. “Banning hard alcohol and drinking games for Cal Poly's Greek life won't save anyone's life. Friendship and looking out for one another will.”

Laemmle also mentioned how he didn’t believe the legislation would be effective because the rules are too abrasive and difficult to follow.

“It seems like the school has simply proposed such outrageous rules that we were forced to accept a middle ground that is still too intense,” Laemmle said. “Regardless of its responsible intentions, I believe creating rules that cannot be followed is unethical and unfortunately turns popular opinion against the rule makers.”

According to the guidelines, if a fraternity or sorority doesn’t follow the policies, the chapter will receive a warning for the first violation, a meeting with the dean for the second and social suspension for the third.

Despite several students’ disapproval, Cal Poly officials are still maintaining the revised regulations were the right move. 

“We believe [the new policy] is an important new tool in helping our students maintain their own health and well-being, and develop good neighbor and community relations,” Vice President for Student Affairs Keith Humphrey stated in a press release to Mustang News.

Sharing Humphrey's belief, was Cal Poly sophomore Rachel Du Mont, who felt the policies would help lower the amount of excessive parties and generate a better relationship with the local community given that Greek houses are located off-campus. 

“I think the restrictions will create a safer atmosphere for people in the Greek system and the surrounding people will appreciate the ban because the partying won't be extreme,” Cal Poly sophomore Rachel Du Mont said.

The university updated the Greek party policies following a number of alcohol-related incidents in recent years, including the 2008 death of freshman Carson Starkey due to alcohol poising after a fraternity hazing event, according to The Huffington Post. 

The university’s oversight heightened in 2010 after the school banned the recruitment of first-year students. 

The recent regulations come after Cal Poly’s Greek chapters agreed to implement several policies and procedures over a three-year period in exchange for ending the ban on freshman recruitment, according to The Tribune in San Luis Obispo.

Understanding that the agreement doesn’t address every possible social situation, the policy requires that fraternities and sororities conduct their event and themselves with social responsibility.  The policies are expected to be reviewed and revised, if necessary, this June at the end of the spring quarter.

"We will be working to successfully implement the new policies," Danielle Durante, Cal Poly's Panhellenic president, told The Tribune. "We will start reviewing the effectiveness of the policy with administration and creating any needed changes by the beginning of March."

Reach Staff Reporter Celeste Alvarez here or follow her on Twitter.