FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 10, 2019
Heather Kirk, Chief Communication Officer
317.872.1112; Heather.kirk@nicfraternity.org
INDIANAPOLIS—In a historic decision, the 66 fraternities of the North American Interfraternity Conference adopted guidelines to standardize and strengthen health and safety measures across fraternities.
In unanimous agreement, leaders of the NIC fraternities voted at a November 29, 2018, meeting to adopt 10 guidelines (below) designed to reduce the presence and negative impact of alcohol and drugs in the fraternity experience. By September 1, 2019, each of the 66 fraternities will codify these measures in its own policies and implement them in its chapters.
“Our assessment shows these are best-practice strategies that make a big difference in safety for members and guests,” said Mark Timmes, Pi Kappa Phi CEO, who led the committee charged to provide recommendations on health and safety guidelines to the NIC. “When fraternities can move as one to implement consistent measures across a campus community—and across the more than 6,100 chapters in North America—we create shared expectations and a level field for all members.”
These guidelines build upon the fraternities’ strong commitment to enhance the health and safety in campus communities. In the last year, NIC fraternities voted to ban hard alcohol in fraternity houses and events by September 1, 2019; partnered with parents who have lost their sons to hazing to strengthen hazing laws across the country and educate high school and college students on hazing and bullying; implemented conference-wide adoption of medical Good Samaritan policies; and are developing SocialSafe, an online event management platform and app.
“This is another important step to improve the health and safety for our 385,000 members and their guests,” said Judson Horras, NIC President & CEO. “This will lead to a more unified prevention and accountability system, resulting in safer communities and refocusing fraternities on brotherhood, personal growth, support and service.”
While elements of these guidelines have been in place across many organizations, through this historic agreement, all NIC fraternities will—for the first time—implement uniform health and safety measures. These NIC Alcohol & Drug Guidelines will also appear in the forthcoming Interfraternity Council Standard Operating Procedures the NIC is implementing, which provide structure, support and accountability for campus IFCs.
As with all NIC Standards and guidelines, these are minimum expectations; when member fraternities and campuses have more restrictive policies, students and chapters will still be expected to follow those.
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Click here to download a PDF of this release. The North American Interfraternity Conference is a trade association that represents 66 inter/national men’s fraternities, with more than 6,100 chapters located on more than 800 campuses in the United States and Canada, with approximately 385,000 undergraduate members and nearly 4.2 million alumni.
