Most NIU fraternities and sororities have to pre-register their parties and events, but that could change.

University policy governs chapters of the Intra-Fraternity Council and the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which include about two-thirds of NIU’s Greek groups.

The policy says if a chapter wants to hold an event – such as an invite party or dance – it has to register with the office of University Programming and Activities by the Tuesday before the event.

“Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve toyed with the idea of having them not register events,” said Chris Juhl, NIU’s activities adviser for Greek affairs. “It’s an idea the office has been kicking around. I don’t know if it’ll happen or not.”

Three of NIU’s Greek chapters already have been caught violating the policy this semester.

“It’s upsetting to me because it’s such an easy process,” Juhl said. “On a regular basis, I have somebody come in who says the ‘XYZ chapter’ went to Lake Geneva, and we had no idea.”

The usual punishment is suspension of event-holding privileges for a designated amount of time. An unregistered Greek event is very low on the list of illegal activities, Juhl said, so a chapter’s judicial board usually handles its cases.

To cease the registration process, the idea would have to be proposed to and approved by the Greek Life Standards Board. If the board approved the idea, the IFC and PHC also would need to agree. Finally, each IFC and PHC chapter would have to vote on the idea.

The change would leave NIU less liable for the happenings at Greek events and would centralize chapter management to national organizations.

IFC President Tim Samp, a junior corporate communication major, said he’s heard many stories in which a chapter was shut down because of poor risk-management guidelines, which can include event registration.

“National organizations don’t tolerate as much as universities,” Samp said. “When something goes wrong, it comes down to the fact that the chapter is to blame. The national organization will cut their costs and say they won’t take responsibility because it’s not their fault.”

PHC President Shanda Scharff, a senior sociology major, said she likes the current policy because it keeps leaders informed and holds chapters accountable for their actions. However, she acknowledged that students would favor abandoning the registration process.

A chapter fails to pre-register an event “every so often,” Scharff said. “They don’t usually get caught beforehand. We usually find out after the event, then go to the judicial board and have sanctions put on them.”

Samp said it’s “pretty seldom” that a chapter doesn’t register an event. He said he likes the process, and that chapters would face more costs if pre-registration is scrapped.

“It’s a good way to govern ourselves, and I like student governing,” Samp said. “If we didn’t have registration, it would cost a lot more because we would need outside security.”

Events held on a chapter’s property are the only registered events that are monitored, Juhl said. Greek Affairs will send a patrol group – made of students – who will visit the event two or three times. They are supplied with a checklist used to “make sure everything’s going all right,” Juhl said.

The average Greek chapter at NIU holds between five and eight major events each year, Samp and Scharff said. Those include philanthropic events, dances, invite parties, mixers and trips.

“They think people are out to get them,” Samp said. “It just hurts them because we’re just gonna help them out anyway and make sure everything goes smoothly.”