Greeks add guest lists, guards on Halloween

By Danielle Lever

Like everyone else on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, Greek organizations are getting ready for the Halloween weekend.
Most of the fraternity and sorority houses are on Langdon Street, directly parallel to State Street where Freakfest, the city's official Halloween party, will occur on Saturday.

While most students are preparing their costumes and deciding which parties to attend, the Greeks are boarding up their houses and hiring security guards. With the influx of people on Langdon Street, the Greeks have safety in mind.

“We hire two security guards and everyone in the house is allowed to bring one guest and we comprise a list of all the
girls and their guests and the security guards check and only those on the list can get in,” said Kate Levenstien, member of
Delta Gamma sorority.

While all 11 sororities on campus have house managers, fraternities do not and are, therefore, forced to maintain safety without the help of authorities.

“Last year we hired 2 security guards, but we are not this year,” said Jared Steinberg, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi. “It is an individual responsibility and we have sent out repeated emails to the house telling (members) not to do anything irresponsible.”

In terms of producing parties, fraternities and sororities are not permitted to host events, according to Student Organization Office rules. However, some find a way to do so, anyway.

The Madison chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was suspended from campus after receiving 266 citations from the Madison police department for their Halloween party in 2005. After the fraternity received $94,000 in citation fines, other houses are careful not to make the same mistake.

“We just had way too many people at the party and things got out of control,” said Daniel Sherman of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

“Now frats have to be more careful about the parties that they decide to throw.”

Although safety is the main concern, the members of fraternities and sororities are involved in Halloween in other beneficial forms.

One way they participate is Trick or Treat with the Greeks, which occurred on Oct. 19. The program, which pairs a fraternity and sorority together, takes underprivileged Madison area children trick-or-treating up and down Langdon
Street for the afternoon.

“It gave the kids an opportunity to experience a fun Halloween when they might not have been able to,” said Kendal
Friedman, an Alpha Epsilon Phi member.

Halloween may be a scary holiday for some, but the Greeks on campus do everything in their power to ensure that it is not.

Intense preventive measures are taken to enhance safety but the members of the campus sororities and fraternities will be sure to have fun.

“Even though we take heavy security actions, we still enjoy the weekend,” said Levenstien. “We will be right there with everyone else on Langdon and State Streets. We just are going to make sure we partake in the festivities in a safe and conscious manner.”

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