NEWS

OPINION-EDITORIAL COLUMN

Greek houses put fire safety first

By RON BINDER
Office of Greek Affairs

Greek houses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will not lag behind other student housing when it comes to safety or technology. As we prepare our 47 sororities and fraternities for the 21st century, fire safety has come to the forefront and Greek houses are making progress.

The university’s Office of Greek Affairs, in conjunction with the Chapel Hill Fire Department, is working with fraternity and sorority houses to increase fire safety, awareness and standards. The Greek community is taking several steps to meet this goal.

Those measures include obeying a Chapel Hill ordinance that requires all Greek houses to have working sprinkler systems by fall 2001. Currently nine of 33 Greek houses have met this requirement. We are working with the house corporations -- the alumni who own each property -- and are confident everyone will meet the deadline. The Office of Greek Affairs is helping many house corporations with fund-raising projects to pay for the sprinkler systems, which cost at least $60,000 each. Capital projects are under way to raise the nearly $8 million needed for sprinklers and other fire safety equipment.

Another stride taken has been starting a series of unannounced fire drills each semester that are supervised by the fire department and verified by the Office of Greek Affairs. The fire department also inspects each Greek house each semester; this report is sent to the Office of Greek Affairs and distributed to chapter advisers. All fire code violations discovered are corrected to the fire department’s satisfaction by the end of the semester.

The town and the fire department have agreed to aid Greek house residents in other ways. Before the opening of school each fall, a large Dumpster is provided for groups to remove furniture and other large items that could potentially block hallways. The town waives dumping fees for this service, with the Inter-Fraternity Council paying the transportation costs. Fire Chief Dan Jones has spoken at a new member seminar each semester for the past two years, covering fire safety in residence halls, Greek houses, apartments and individual houses.

Adding specially trained student fire marshals also is part of our effort, and one is required for each house. Student marshals communicate with each other, the university and the fire department via an electronic mail list-serve sponsored by UNC-CH. Marshals also must inspect their chapter houses each semester and coordinate the viewing of an 11-minute UNC-CH-produced educational video, "Your Link to Fire Safety," each year.

For the past year, the Office of Greek Affairs has rewarded chapters with zero fire code violations with a $50 check. In the spring of 1998, Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Delta Delta Delta sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity received this recognition.

While we reward sororities and fraternities for making fire safety a priority, we also discipline them when they fall short. Chapters are fined $100 for allowing people on a roof. Chapters are billed the full cost, a minimum of $300, if the fire department must respond to an intentionally set fire at a Greek house or on Greek property. Tampering with fire safety equipment in a Greek house is a violation of the university’s student code of conduct and subject to honor court sanctions. These policies have all been in effect for at least one year and have dramatically reduced problems.

We also recognize the need for awareness to achieve the highest mark of fire safety. Last year, the Office of Greek Affairs launched a World Wide Web site -- www.unc.edu/depts/greek/fire.html -- devoted to fire safety in Greek houses to aid fire marshals and to give accurate information on fire safety to new students and parents. The number of fire code violations for each chapter is noted on a Greek semester report, which is sent to all faculty and administrators, alumni, advisers and national headquarters. It is also distributed to parents and new students at orientation and has been posted at www.unc.edu/depts/greek for the past two years.

Fire safety is taken seriously in the Greek community. The goal is to provide high-quality, safe housing for the students that reside in Greek residences. Although less than one-third of the approximately 2,700 Greek members at Carolina actually live in a Greek house, we continue to strive to improve safety for our students.

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(Note: Binder, director of the Office of Greek Affairs, can be reached at 962-8298/e-mail: rsbinder@email.unc.edu)

News Services Contact: Mike McFarland