This time of year, Greek organizations look forward to hosting their spring formals at venues across Grand Forks. However, not all venues will be equally welcoming.

Eagles Crest owner Paul Waind has seen the worst of it. His restaurant is located in the clubhouse of the King’s Walk Golf Course.

“Drugs, sex, smoking pot and underage drinking, not just in cars but on the golf course,” Waind recalled.

This behavior has led to some Greek organizations being blacklisted from hosting formals at local restaurants and bars.

Some venue owners and managers of the establishments have reported too many problems with hosting Greek events in the past and are no longer willing to do so.. Owners in Grand Forks have begun to place restrictions on Greek organizations hosting events, banned some who have broken rules in the past.

“I have met with the heads of Greek organizations before to set ground rules and discuss problems in the past,” Waind said. “So far very few have actually been able to follow through with following the rules.”

Nick Creamer, Student Body President and former fraternity president, said while there may be the occasional bad behavior at the events, sometimes the problems between the organizations and businesses are the result of unclear rules or expectations.

“Sometimes it may be the result of a misunderstanding,” he said. “It is the responsibility of these establishments to set clear rules and expectations, and it is the responsibility of the Greek organizations to follow those rules.”

Waind said he has never turned away an organization just for being Greek, but always sets ground rules before the events that he expects to be followed. If the Greek organization is not willing to follow the rules, they are not allowed to host their event at his restaurant.

When reviewing the punishments restaurants and bars can face for alcohol related violations in particular, it is understandable that these venues would want to make sure that they are in compliance with the law. Sanctions can range anywhere from a fine to revocation of their liquor license, a license that can cost some of these businesses more than $65,000.

“We have set rules and expectations that have been broken regularly, including students bringing their own alcohol, handing drinks to underage students and stepping outside for drinks,” Waind said.

He added there have been multiple times where he has had to pull fraternity presidents aside and point out various problems at the venue and let them know if the problems aren’t corrected the police would get involved.

“I think the establishments are sometimes well within their rights asking us not to come back,” Creamer said. “Sometimes the fraternity members do things that put themselves at fault. But when an establishment bans an organization simply because they are Greek, it’s a form of discrimination. Its really disappointing to hear someone representing a local business say that you’re not welcome, and your money is no good here.”

Standards

Alyssa Walker, coordinator for Greek Life at UND, said extreme incidents like those Waind described are few and far between.

“There is a standard of behavior that chapter members need to adhere to, and there are expectations of the chapter and the location that need to be followed,” she said. “I think for the most part our chapters are very respectful of the venues they attend, and, typically, it is just the behavior of a few individuals that give everyone else a bad reputation.”

Although the contracts between the Greek organizations and the venues do not involve the university, members of any school organization have a responsibility to represent their university as a whole, Walker said.

“The chapters usually do a good job at holding their members accountable for any expectations of their chapter, the Greek community and the whole university,” Walker said.

Not all venues that host Greek events have negative things to say about the behavior.

“We just had a Greek formal here last night, and they were great kids” said Patty Sauskojus, manager of the VFW in East Grand Forks, a venue that frequently hosts Greek events. “They were fine, we have them all the time, and we never turn away any of the kids from fraternities and sororities.”

Creamer said the student leaders on campus need to have conversations with local business in order to establish a healthy relationship, but the local businesses need to keep an open mind and be willing to look past the negative stereotypes often associated with Greek life.

“By working together, we will be able to build a better community in which everyone benefits. There is a lot of relationship building that should be done by Greek leaders and the owners of the establishments that they want to hold their social events at,” Creamer said. “With good communication and dialogue I believe that we could put some of the problems we have had in the past behind us.”

At the end of the day, Waind said he needs to keep his business’ best interests his priority.

“First and foremost, we are a restaurant, and we want to make sure that everyone here is following the law,” Waind said. “Whether it is a wedding or a Greek life event, everybody has to respect the law.”

Larry Philbin is the news editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].