New safety rules for fraternities at the University of Virginia would require at least three “sober and lucid” members to monitor behavior at parties, prohibit pre-mixed alcoholic drinks and implement guest lists to control entry to the houses during an event. 
 
 The rules, made public Tuesday, also stipulate that one of the sober party monitors must be posted at a staircase leading to bedrooms and have “immediate key access to each room” in the house. That measure appears designed to prevent situations that could lead to sexual assault at U-Va’s fraternities. 
 
 The safety initiative arose in response to a Rolling Stone magazine article in November that depicted a female student saying she was gang-raped at a fraternity house during her freshman year. That article unraveled last month as key elements of the rape allegation fell into doubt and the magazine’s managing editor apologized for journalistic lapses. 
 
 But university officials and leaders of Greek organizations, among others in the U-Va. community, pledged to continue a push to improve safety at U-Va. regardless. 
 
 With that in mind, the university unveiled an addendum to its “fraternal organization agreement” with 31 chapters belonging to U-Va.’s Inter-Fraternity Council. Of those, 28 have houses, which are often the scene of parties where alcohol is available. 
 
 At the same time, the university released another safety addendum for its agreements with sororities and fraternities that belong to other Greek councils. That document promises steps to promote “bystander intervention” — a method of preventing sexual violence — as well as educational programs on alcohol use and safe parties. 
 
 On Nov. 22, three days after the Rolling Stone article appeared, U-Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan announced a suspension of social activities for campus Greek organizations. On Tuesday, Sullivan said the suspension would be lifted immediately, on condition that each chapter agree to the new safety provisions by Jan. 16, the second day of fraternity spring rush. 
 
 “I believe the new safety measures recommended by the student leaders in the Greek community will help provide a safer environment for their members and guests,” Sullivan said in a statement. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our student leaders who have worked so diligently in the past several weeks to bring forth substantive recommendations and improvements consistent with the ideals of our community of trust.” 
 
 IFC President Tommy Reid credited numerous fraternity and sorority members, among others, for working “around the clock for the past month and half to develop these improvements to our system.” The council, he said, “is excited for the spring semester and looks forward to continuing to lead the advancement of student safety at the university.” 
 
 It is unclear how the new rules for the IFC will change the party culture at Virginia’s flagship public university. J. Marshall Pattie, an associate dean of students, said some of the provisions — such as sober party monitors — already have been customary. 
 
 Now there will be a standard protocol: At least three “sober brothers” on duty at all parties, with more required as needed. At least one monitor must be stationed wherever alcohol is distributed, and at least one must be at the staircase. The monitors also must wear something that identifies them — with the identification common for all chapters. 
 
 On alcohol, the rules say that beer can be served in unopened cans and that wine can be served if visibly poured by a sober fraternity member. Prohibited are “pre-mixed drinks, punches or any other common source of alcohol.” That means no beer kegs. Hard liquor can be served at large events if a fraternity hires a bartender through a company with a state license, or at smaller events if bottles are placed at a bar overseen by a sober monitor. 
 
 The documents released Tuesday make scant mention of laws against serving alcohol to people under the age of 21. Underlying the rules there appears to be an assumption that college students will drink at parties, regardless of the law, and that the university should try to make those parties as safe as possible. 
 
 On guest lists, Pattie said fraternities often have had such controls but that enforcement has varied. Sometimes, he said, a fraternity member might have asked a brother to wave somebody into a party who was not on the list. The new rules will call for a hired security agent to be stationed at the door during large parties to check guest lists. At smaller parties, a fraternity member will check the list. 
 
 These provisions are described in a section of the rules headlined, “Eliminating discomfort and chaos: Entry management.” ||||| Fraternities wanting to throw parties at the University of Virginia will have to get three members to stay "sober and lucid" to monitor behavior and bedrooms, under new rules imposed after a media report of a gang rape at one of the gatherings. 
 
 The student houses will also have to post a guard at the front door and ban pre-mixed drinks, according to the safety regulations the university announced on Tuesday. 
 
 At least one of the sober monitors will have to be posted on the staircase leading to bedrooms and have access to every room in the house, the university said. 
 
 UVA banned all social events at fraternities and sororities after Rolling Stone magazine published an article in November detailing an alleged rape at a party in September 2012, and accusations that the university failed to respond. 
 
 Rolling Stone later said there were editorial mistakes in its story and asked Columbia University's journalism school to review the coverage. 
 
 UVA President Teresa Sullivan said the ban would be lifted, as long as the organizations signed onto the new regulations meant to guard against excessive drinking and the risk of sexual violence. 
 
 "I believe the new safety measures recommended by the student leaders in the Greek community (the fraternities and sororities) will help provide a safer environment for their members and guests," Sullivan said. 
 
 Sexual violence on campuses has come under increasing scrutiny after a number of high-profile cases. 
 
 Last week, Harvard Law School agreed to overhaul the way it handles sexual harassment complaints among its students after a long-running federal investigation found it was violating U.S. law. 
 
 (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Andrew Heavens) ||||| CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan says fraternities and sororities are being allowed to reinstate social activities, provided they agree to new safety practices. 
 
 The Greek system at U.Va. came under scrutiny after Rolling Stone magazine reported on an alleged gang rape at a fraternity house in 2012. The magazine has since apologized for what it calls discrepancies in details of the account. 
 
 In a statement issued Tuesday, Sullivan said she approved additions to the university's Fraternal Organization Agreement. 
 
 Sullivan said the changes will enhance the safety of fraternity and sorority members, as well as guests. One change: no pre-mixed drinks at fraternity parties and all fraternity functions must have security monitoring the front door. 
 
 Sullivan suspended social activities until Jan. 9 after the Rolling Stone article was published. ||||| The University of Virginia campus. (Rebecca Drobis/ For The Washington Post) 
 
 Sorority sisters at the University of Virginia were ordered by their national chapters to avoid fraternity events this weekend — a mandate that many of the women said was irrational, sexist and contrary to the school’s culture. 
 
 It’s not about one night of parties, several students said, but about their ability to make their own choices. 
 
 And they’re not taking that lightly. 
 
 The rule came after a traumatic fall semester in Charlottesville, including the violent death of a student and now-discredited allegations of a gang rape at a U-Va. fraternity. Both forced a thorough examination of campus safety, drinking culture and Greek life. 
 
 WUVA online, a student-run media outlet, interviewed Nicole Eramo, an associate Dean of Students who heads the university's Sexual Misconduct Board. According to WUVA, the interview took place before a Rolling Stone story about an alleged gang rape at a fraternity at the University of Virginia. WUVA published the interview on Saturday. (WUVA INC.) 
 
 The university administration just days ago lifted a suspension of fraternity and sorority activities that came in the wake of the sexual assault allegations, a break that the university community used to have a broad discussion about student safety in the Greek system. In order to have the ban lifted — immediately ahead of spring rush, when students join fraternities — the school’s Greek houses agreed to new rules amid new student-led initiatives to increase safety. 
 
 Many students had been looking forward to celebrating with old friends and new members during the fraternities’ bid night, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31. 
 
 There are 16 sororities on U-Va.’s campus that are part of the National Panhellenic Conference, with more than 2,000 members, according to the campus Inter-Sorority Council. The NPC can come to “unanimous agreements” among its national presidents that are binding on local chapters and their members. 
 
 At some U-Va. chapters in recent days, students described mandatory emergency meetings with representatives from their national chapter telling them they risked suspension, fines and other penalties if any of them attended bid night parties. Boys’ Bid Night is typically a night when sorority sisters go from house to house sharing drinks with friends. 
 
 Now some sororities are planning mandatory in-house retreats that night, to avoid any risk of inadvertently violating the rule. 
 
 At some chapters, women were told not only to avoid going to fraternity parties on Boys’ Bid Night, but to avoid any social gathering with fraternity members, said Ben Gorman, president of the Inter-Fraternity Council at U-Va. That would mean a ban on attending off-campus parties or gatherings at bars that night after a hotly anticipated basketball game on campus, which pits the undefeated No. 2 Cavaliers against No. 4 Duke. “People are very agitated and very upset, and see this as an obstacle to larger cultural change a violation of free rights and student free will.” 
 
 A university spokesman deferred questions to the National Panhellenic Conference, as did the incoming president of the Inter-Sorority Council at U-Va. 
 
 A spokeswoman for the National Panhellenic Conference said the mandate comes not from the umbrella group but from each national chapter president. “Of course, NPC supports the safety of their women, so they do support those national presidents making that decision and encouraging sorority women to plan sisterhood events and other ‘safer’ options,” Michelle Bower said. 
 
 An emergency Student Council bill aimed at addressing the issue passed 14-0-3 on Tuesday night, urging the national chapter leaders to join students on campus to talk about the issue Friday. “This was entirely top-down — an edict,” said Abraham Axler, a second-year student who is chair of the representative body. “That is not how things operate at U-Va.” 
 
 A petition, started online on Monday, had almost 2,000 signatures by midday Tuesday. It reads, in part: 
 
 “Instead of addressing rape and sexual assault at UVa, this mandate perpetuates the idea that women are inferior, sexual objects. It is degrading to Greek women, as it appears that the [National Panhellenic Conference] views us as defenseless and UVa’s new fraternal policies as invalid. Allowing the NPC to prevent us from celebrating (what used to be) a tight-knit community, sends the message that we are weak.” 
 
 And another widely-circulated letter, directed to the National Panhellenic Conference, reads, in part: 
 
 “Our concerns lie in the way sorority women are being used as leverage to change the actions and behaviors of fraternity men. This resolution has misconstrued us as a passive aggregate rather than active agents for change. It has also had the unintended consequence of subjugating women. … Women have historically been the targets of sexual violence, and forbidding us to exercise our agency plays dangerously into gender stereotypes surrounding the issue.” The mandate is diametrically opposed to the central values of the sororities in fostering and supporting women’s strength, the letter continues, and, “This solution is not long-term, realistic, or sustainable.” ||||| BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA9) Two American University students are headed to court following an off-campus frat house party. 
 
 The party on Walhonding Road in Bethesda ended with police issuing alcohol citations to more than 100 underage drinkers. 
 
 When officers pulled up in front of this house, they saw two young men carrying an intoxicated 18 year-old girl to an Uber. She was about to get a ride to the hospital to be treated for alcohol poisoning. 
 
 Twenty-one-year-old Jamieson Tymann faces a March 10th court date after he allegedly slugged a Montgomery County Police Officer in the chest and in the eye. 
 
 Tymann became agitated after an officer repeatedly asked him to leave the party. The 4th year student is a member of the President Pi Kappa Alpha, an off-campus fraternity that calls 5906 Walhonding Road its home. 
 
 The Bethesda house is leased to 22 year-old Tyler Steinhardt. He now faces 110 counts of providing alcohol to minors. 
 
 Sources say the inside of the house was trashed during the January 15th party—with beer seeping through the ceiling into the basement. 
 
 Police discovered 200 partygoers just on the first floor. Another 50 to 75 people were huddled in the garage. 
 
 Underage drinkers hid in closets, under beds and anywhere they could find when officers moved in. 
 
 The house was so packed, investigators estimated the air temperature to be 100 degrees. And the alcohol was so abundant, a preliminary breath test registered .09, just in the ambient air. 
 
 That’s above the legal level of intoxication for a Maryland driver. 
 
 Providing alcohol to minors is still not a criminal offense in the state of Maryland, so Steinhardt is charged with civil offenses. 
 
 He faces fines up to $2,500 per underage partygoer, though he’s unlikely to get a 275k penalty. 
 
 A spokeswoman for American University says the school has met with each of the students cited and referred their cases to what’s known as AU Student Conduct. 
 
 The outcomes for the fraternity will be made available to the AU community, but any sanctions for individual students are not made public. 
 
 Correction 3/11/16: Jamieson Tymann is a member of Pi Kappa Alpha. He does not hold a leadership role, according to the fraternity.
– No kegs, strictly enforced guest lists, and at least three "sober and lucid" monitors is the new normal for fraternity and sorority parties at the University of Virginia. President Teresa Sullivan yesterday announced the changes to the university's Fraternal Organization Agreement and said the school would lift a ban on social events—but only if groups agree to the new safety regulations, the AP reports. Each chapter has until Jan. 16 to sign off on the new regulations, adds the Washington Post.The university had instituted the ban after a November Rolling Stone article (since found to have "discrepancies") alleged that a student had been raped at a 2012 frat party and that university response had been lacking, Reuters notes. The new rules maintain that one of the sober monitors—all of whom must wear a label identifying them as such—must be posted where alcohol is being served, while another is required to keep tabs on any staircases leading to bedrooms and have "immediate key access to each room" of the fraternity house, the Post notes. Premixed drinks or any other "common source of alcohol" (including kegs) is prohibited; beer can be doled out in unopened cans, but wine can be poured and served only by a sober monitor. And that's if guests make it into the party: Under a section titled "Eliminating Discomfort and Chaos: Entry Management" is a mandate for a hired security guard at the entry door to check guest lists during "Tier I" events (larger parties); a frat member can monitor the list during smaller "Tier II" events. (A Slate columnist came under fire for linking rape to women's drinking.)