Two fraternity brothers stationed at the corner of College Avenue and School Street stood smoking cigarettes while students in white t-shirts hustled past towards Sigma Nu for the highlighter party Saturday night.
Having two brothers on the corner during events is only part of the new behavioral guidelines for off campus student organizations at the University of Southern Maine, which came into effect that Friday. Four more brothers, along with chapter president and spokesperson for the fraternities Brian Boyt, stood at the end of the Sigma Nu driveway, controlling the crowds coming in. However, these precautions, now part of the behavioral guidelines, are nothing new for Sigma. “The majority of the stuff in the document, we’ve already been doing,” said Boyt.
Residents on Preble Street have had issues with fraternities for years. They cited complaints about noise and vandalism of property, including destroyed trees and a broken window, empty beer cans and plastic cups on yards, and even a condom in a resident’s driveway. “The noise issue is the biggest one I think.” said Tim Allard, who lives near the fraternities on Preble Street.
“It escalated over the years to the point where partying was the norm, not the exception. I know they realize the neighborhood has drawn a line,” said Dawn Wentworth, who lives on the corner of Elm and Preble Street.
“You have two fraternities and an old sorority [on Preble Street] and 60 kids and when you mix alcohol, its like throwing gas on a fire,” said Allard. “It’s not that we’re trying to tell you not to drink. We’re just saying that if you’re going to drink than be responsible.”
The new behavioral guidelines are a result of meetings fraternities had with community members and University officials in September. All parties agreed to have a written set of rules that off-campus organizations like the fraternities must adhere to. Even though the fraternities are located off-campus, they fall under the jurisdiction of the University of Maine System Student Conduct Code.
Some new rules include quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 1 to 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Streets surrounding the houses must be cleaned up of trash before 9 a.m. the morning after a party. Frats must also contact neighbors, University administration, and town and campus police at least two days prior to an event or party. As mentioned before, there must be at least two members of the fraternity stationed at the corner and two more outside the house.
The fraternities have met with community members five times since last December. Their first meeting this school year was on Sept. 2. The Inter-Fraternity Council came up with a set of rules, which were proposed and discussed at the next meeting on Sept. 16. There was still disagreement about when quiet hours should start.
The IFC continued to work on the set of rules, while University officials trimmed down the original proposal by fraternities. Some of the fraternity members then met on Nov. 2 to discuss the guidelines with Bob Caswell, executive director of public affairs , Craig Hutchinson, vice president of student and university life, Joe Austin, dean of student life, and Stephen Nelson, director of the office of community standards. After that meeting, Nelson rewrote the draft into its final form.
“The early plans were fairly complex. We did what we thought was simplifying that,” said Caswell. “The bottom line was we wanted to get something in place that we thought was enforcement. This isn’t carved in stone.”
But not everyone is pleased with the way the agreement turned out.
“You’ve got guidelines that the neighbors really don’t agree with. I think the University wanted to pass these guidelines just to throw something out there,” said Allard.
Caswell said if the current guidelines turn out to be ineffective, the school and the neighbors will meet again to discuss changes.
“This process has dragged on for so long that we felt we had to have something in place so that we could move forward,” he said.
The residents would like to see these guidelines work for both sides. “We just want to get along with our neighbors, including the brothers,” said Wentworth.
Allard remained skeptical. “If one of those fraternities was next to [USM President] Selma [Botman]’s house, they wouldn’t be getting away with what they’re getting away with,” said Allard.