IFC hosts Halloween on the Hill

Students celebrated Halloween on the Hill this past weekend, boasting their most creative costumes at parties held at various Greek houses.

In an effort to foster a safer and more inclusive social environment, the Interfraternity Council worked with chapters to plan, set up and execute parties. Four fraternity chapters, including Theta Chi, Delta Upsilon, Phi Sigma Kappa and Psi Upsilon, hosted parties in their chapter houses.

IFC Programming Chair Jacob Dooley, ’19, said on-campus parties, known as “registers,” are coordinated with the university. They offer a limited quantity of beer that can be distributed to students who are at least 21 years old and are supervised by event staff, who check for Lehigh IDs

One of the aspects that Dooley appreciates most about registers is the ability for Greek chapters to coordinate social events together.

“It’s nice to have (six-way sponsored events),” Dooley said. “It acts as a way for chapters to collaborate and not compete with one another.”

Since the week surrounding Halloween is a big social scene at Lehigh, IFC member thought hosting registered parties and working with the university to encourage a safer drinking environment was an ideal way to create an enjoyable Halloween experience.

From a risk standpoint, Ricardo Hall, the vice provost of Student Affairs, said events on campus are considered much safer than off-campus parties because they take place in a controlled drinking environment and are closer to underclassmen dorms.

“We would like to see more on-campus (parties), but there’s always going to be the allure of going off campus to a house party,” Hall said. “I’d like to see as many events as possible on campus, like more in the UC and Lamberton. I’d like to see all our spaces maximized.”

Hall believes it’s important for student organizations to understand they can have a good time on campus, too, and are not limited to parties when deciding how to spend the evening.

“I love seeing options,” Hall said. “Not all students want to go to a party. It’s good when we see Taylor Gym open late or have guest speakers. That’s what makes for a vibrant campus, a lot of different options.”

Hall was happy to see students initiate and implement Halloween on the Hill. He said the administration was reciprocal of the idea, without being too involved in the process.

Social chairs from their respective Greek chapters acted as liaisons between their chapters and the university to orchestrate the event. They were required to fill out forms provided by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, and work with IFC when combining chapters at the parties.

Eric Rizzi, ’20, a Theta Chi executive member, said he feels the university’s ability to monitor drinking at these parties will also help students become more connected to the main campus and encourage a safer drinking environment.

“It’s something unique to Lehigh to walk around the hill,” Rizzi said. “I think if the right measures are put into place, it could happen more often.”