Fraternity hosted parties fall under new city rules
UT
fraternities are recently under more scrutiny after the City of Austin
created a joint task force with the Austin Police Department, Austin
Fire Department and the City's code enforcement department. The goal of the new force is
to make large parties in Austin safer, but fraternity members say they
are clearly being targeted. Signs advertising large
parties can be found across West Campus, but the City is concerned
with whether the parties are safe. "We
take the precautions that are necessary to not have people in bad
situations at our house," said Thomas Huddleston of the Delta
Kappa Epsilon fraternity. The City says it's not
targeting fraternities, but all public assemblies. But many complaints in the
past have come from West Campus, and the City promised to take action. "I hope they're going to
cooperate. It's for their safety," said Stephanie Lott with the
City of Austin. The City is concerned about
temporary structures some fraternities build at large parties. "We don't believe the
structures are safe," said Lott. Fraternities will need to
have a permit for a "party-build", and the black tarps
fraternities use to block visibility into house parties are now
considered a fire hazard. Non-flammable tarps are the new standard. "Fraternities
are definitely getting targeted," said Huddleston. Huddleston
said fraternities already follow procedures and the recent crack down
is unnecessary. "We
actually have to get inspected by the fire department in order to get
a permit to have party of more than say - 50 people," said
Huddleston. But even when they cannot get
a permit, few fraternities are deterred. "Then
it goes on as planned," said Huddleston. UT students have differing
opinions about the new party rules. Some think the City's regulators
should spend time elsewhere. "They're usually normal
and sane, and don't need the intervention of police officers,"
said UT student Chris Nenadal. But others said they recall
times when a party should have been cancelled. "They can fit a lot of
people in one tiny area, it gets kind of crazy," said Jackie
Dozier, a UT student.