Frats Allowed to Host State Patty’s Parties for First Time Since 2011; State College and Penn State Issue Weekend Warning

For the first time since 2011, Penn State fraternities will be permitted to host registered social events during State Patty’s Day weekend, a move that has drawn concern from university and State College Borough officials who have spent more than a decade working to tamp down the negative effects of the student-created drinking holiday.

State Patty’s traditionally occurs the weekend after THON and will take place this Friday through Sunday.

The Penn State Interfraternity Council (IFC) made the decision on Feb. 13, according to Onward State. In a statement this week, the IFC Executive Board said that “registered socials are significantly more organized, responsible and safer” than unsanctioned events.

“The IFC Board predicts that if we ban socials again this year, fraternities will have the same parties with the same number of people at off-campus senior houses, or even in their own facilities,” the board wrote in the statement. “This is, of course, against IFC and PSU policy and we would respond to such incidents accordingly, but we would rather prevent these dangerous events from happening in the first place. When fraternities register those socials with Penn State, we are able to manage the masses and operate safe events.”

Registering socials comes with “strict and rigorous guidelines and monitoring,” according to the statement, and a representative from Penn State’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Compliance will walk through the events “to ensure all safety policies are being followed.”

The IFC Board says it will work with the compliance office and State College police “to ensure the safety and security of all students choosing to partake in this weekend.”

Registered socials have restrictions on the type of alcohol that can be served, capacity limits and a requirement to have a sober member monitoring the events.

“Unregistered socials are inevitable, but they don’t have the safety infrastructure in place to hold students accountable and keep them safe during a high-risk weekend,” University Park Undergraduate Association President Sydney Gibbard told Onward State.

University spokesperson Lisa Powers said the IFC “demonstrated great leadership in previous years” by not allowing social events and that university officials encouraged them to do the same this year because it has helped limit the impact of the weekend on the Highlands neighborhood and the community.

“We are disappointed that the IFC is choosing this path, as we should be working together to reduce high-risk and dangerous drinking that results in a strain on our hospital, police and EMS resources, as well as has a significant negative impact on students,” Powers said. “In sharing with us their approach, the IFC believes their processes and risk management efforts will promote safer registered social events than private, unregistered events.

“We strongly encourage our IFC chapters to take the weekend’s activities seriously and remind all students to be responsible members of our community.”

The IFC Board said they echo the latter part of that statement, urging students to “be safe and smart.”

When fraternities last hosted registered socials in 2011, it coincided with the height of State Patty’s issues. That year State College and Penn State police reported a combined 309 arrests between midnight on Friday and midnight on Sunday of State Patty’s weekend. In 2021, the last year for which statistics were made available, there were 36 arrests during that period, the lowest on record and the culmination of a steady decline.

How much of a role the prohibition on registered fraternity parties played in that decline is unclear. The university and borough have taken a number of other measures to clamp down on State Patty’s problems, with many of those steps continuing this year.

In a letter to the State College Tavern Owners Association, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine and Penn State Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Andrea Dowhower once again requested that bars not offer State Patty’s Day drink specials, extended hours or themed promotions.

State College and Penn State police, along with state police and other local law enforcement, will have an increased presence throughout the weekend. Off-campus property managers have again agreed to have extra staff on site to patrol and report problems.

University residence halls will limit guests to one per room for the weekend. State College Police Chief John Gardner, Penn State Deputy Chief Jason Zajac and Penn State Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Danny Shaha also sent a letter to State College residents on Wednesday asking that they refrain from having guests at their apartments and homes this weekend.

And, even with the IFC’s party permission, the university and borough have asked fraternities and sororities to voluntarily limit social events with alcohol.

“By taking active steps to discourage participation in this event, we might discourage the most problematic behaviors seen in years past,” Fountaine said in a statement. “We must do all we can collectively to reduce high-risk and dangerous drinking that results in strain on [Mount Nittany Medical Center] and the Emergency Department, university and borough police resources and our EMS workers, and the significant negative impacts on so many of our community members, both students and long-term residents.”

Any Penn State student charged with violations during the weekend, on or off campus, also will be referred to the university’s Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response for disciplinary action.

“State Patty’s has a tendency to present challenges for our community and at Penn State, we want to do everything in our power to mitigate those challenges,” Dowhower said. “We want our community to remain as safe as possible during this weekend and every weekend. We hope that Penn Staters and the surrounding area will join us to combat the disruptive and damaging consequences we have seen in the past because of State Patty’s Day.”