WTXL ABC 27 in Tallahassee is reporting that the North American Intra Fraternity Council (NIC) has officially banned hard alcohol on fraternity campuses. Their ban applies to all alcohol higher than 15% alcohol-by-volume, which includes whiskey, gin, rum, tequila, and vodka.
Fraternity Hazing Lawyer David Bianchi was interviewed for his comments on the ban.
During the interview, Mr. Bianchi made it clear that this effort is far from a conclusive solution for the problem of alcohol abuse and hazing on college campuses. "The families of these young people who die because of alcohol abuse in fraternities would do anything to have their sons back," he says. "Unfortunately, not enough has been done to stop it, but hopefully this will be a step in the right direction."
6,100+ Fraternity Chapters Must Get Rid of Hard Alcohol
25 fraternities belong to the NIC in North Florida and Georgia. The ban would require all member fraternities of the NIC to adopt and implement the alcohol ban by September 1, 2019. If fully implemented, it would mean a ban on hard alcohol in 6,100 fraternity chapters on 800 campuses (unless provided by a third-party vendor).
Florida State University, the campus where Andrew Coffey was killed by alcohol-related hazing 10 months ago, has already implemented a hard alcohol ban on all fraternities. The Vice President of Student Affairs responded to the NIC announcement, saying, "I do appreciate the work of the NIC to encourage healthy behaviors."
The Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Valdosta State also released a statement on the ban: "The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life will implement a policy in our risk management protocol, in addition to our current policies, that is in accordance with this resolution before September 2019."
To listen to the interview and read the full report, visit the ABC-WTXL site.