Social and Alcohol  

1. Lubbock Area Socials  

 Here are some events that we have held  in the last few years.

• Homecoming Float Fall 2008-- we were teamed with Alpha Delta Pi sorority. (In 2004 we teamed with Miller Girls service sorority.)

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• Homecoming Steak Dinner with returning young and old alumni and their dates or wives. This is held the Friday night before the homecoming game. There is also a game day barbecue at the lodge.

• RaiderGate tailgate parties in a campus parking lot before each home football game . We have a large smoker on a trailer and fly our flag. There is a band. (This photo of a couple of the brothers wearing their white football oxfords with fraternity and Tech insignia appeared on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal website.)

• Pledge Mixer with Delta Gamma sorority pledges.
   

• Hell Raiser Halloween costume party.

• South Pacific Beach Party. This is a big hit. In 2008 the events started with a coat-and-tie-dinner the night before and extended day and night the next day. The backyard is decorated with reed huts. There is a live band. The chapter room some years was a sea of Styrofoam peanuts. In 2008 we had a small outdoor pool.

• Pig Roast at the lodge. Dig a pit; build a fire; roast a pig-- remembering the meat thermometer.

• Parents Weekend luncheon.

• Casino and Cocktails Semi-Formal Party. There are dealers and gaming tables and old time music that is, Frank Sinatra, part of the time.

• Shot Bus  moving party.

• Foam Party. This was held jointly with another fraternity in the Depot District. A foam machine filled a room with foam. Fun.

• UT Weekend party. Held when we played the University of Texas in football. Some brothers from our UT chapter were here. Yes, we had a mechanical bull.
  
  
   

• West Texas Shootout  for which we partnered with another fraternity for two years now also had a mechanical bull and a live band.
   

• Founders Day Banquet in February at a country club with dates and alumni.

• Bid Night Party. This is a pretty wild night. One year we held a joint event with two other fraternities in the Depot District. Usually we have a party in the lodge with a DJ.

• Brotherhood retreats to nearby White River Lake, or similar locale, once each semester after the induction of a new pledge class.

Some new and different events are held each year !

If there isn’t a major party going on, there is always something to do on the weekends after the studying is through.  It’s hard to find the lodge empty on any given weekend.  Also, there are numerous actives with apartments and houses

A bottom line pleasure is hanging out with your fraternity brothers-- getting better acquainted, talking about women, planning, rejoicing, complaining, philosophizing, tossing a football, double dating, studying, watching the tube....

2. About Alcohol

When alcohol is served at fraternity functions we exercise precautions. Peace officers are normally hired to limit entry to invited guests. A state-issued identification is checked to determine age. Persons meeting the minimum legal drinking age requirement have identifying wrist bands attached that cannot be removed without destroying them. Younger persons have their hand marked. Only persons with proof of age are served alcoholic beverages. Chapter funds are not used to purchase the alcoholic beverages; individuals who wish to partake provide funds and arrange for purchase. Non-drinking drivers are designated to be available to insure safe transportation of members and guests who have been drinking.

     Our  lodge is "wet," that is, the legal possession and consumption of alcohol is permitted in the lodge, just as in apartments and houses. Some of the Tech fraternity lodges are wet, and some are dry.

     Exercising self control and behaving appropriately while enjoying a social occasion where alcohol is served are skills that we believe should be learned when transitioning to manhood. The fraternity provides a relatively protected environment for this.

     Incidentally, we have a couple of traditional student drinking songs, including the Phi Psi Toast (mp3).

     On the other hand, drinking is not required for participation, enjoyment, and benefit from our fraternity. Generally we have some brothers who are what used to be called "teetotalers", guys who drink no alcohol at all.

     We use online alcohol danger awareness training that all initiates of the fraternity are required to complete.  We are well aware of possible consequences of collegiate drinking.