It’s a staple of weekend nights in downtown College Park: the sorority bake sale.
Ranging from waffles to brownies, sororities have long set up shop near the city’s bars and sold food to students on their way home from a night on the town. But now, University Police and the Panhellenic Association are working together to create guidelines to keep students safe as they munch.
“The problem has to do with large crowds gathering late night,” University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said. “Most of the people at these events are drunk and we’re trying to make them safe for everyone.”
Dillon said the police are not looking to establish any formal written rules for sororities, but are instead aiming to give sorority leaders tips to keep their events safe. Police concerns have been sparked by a combination of intoxicated patrons, large crowds, loose cash from the sales and the safety of women in the sororities.
”I believe that these concerns are legitimate, and for that reason chapters have been asked to hold off on holding any more food sales until a compromise is found,” Mallory Maher, the president of the Panhellenic Association, wrote in an e-mail. “While there has not been a large incident to date, it is important to be proactive, not reactive, about safety and working now to establish a better way to run these food sales is important.”
While the PHA and the police work together, most sororities are opting to postpone their food sales.
”Sigma Kappa was planning on a late-night waffle sale for Sept. 24, to benefit our philanthropies, but decided to postpone it,” Sigma Kappa President Kristin Laguerre wrote in an e-mail. “In the past, Sigma Kappa Waffle Late Nights have brought in a couple hundred dollars a night and we usually have three or four a semester.”
While Laguerre hopes that the event will happen on Oct. 8 after the groups have settled on a plan of action, she is confident her sorority can think of other creative ways to raise money for the philanthropic organizations they’re associated with.
“If sororities aren’t able to sell food, it will really change the environment on the row and have a negative impact on philanthropy,” junior government and politics major Chelsea Augustine said. “Going to the sales gives you a chance to check out what the other sororities are doing under casual conditions.”
While Augustine, who is a member of Alpha Chi Omega, and other Greeks are looking forward to the return of late night deals on Fraternity Row other students are getting their midnight fix at more convenient locations.
“The Diner has the same food, and you can buy it with your meal plan,” sophomore bioengineering major Afareen Rezvani said. “I don’t want to go all the way to frat row to get food, I don’t have the time.”
hemmati@umdbk.com
