Fraternity parties at Iowa State are being carefully monitored for underage drinking — by other fraternity members.

The Party Evaluation Team, made up of anonymous members of ISU fraternities, is a unique group created by the Interfraternity Council to monitor all registered parties where alcohol is served.

The team not only monitors the safe serving of alcohol, but makes sure the party area is safe for attendees.

“A lot of universities don’t have a [Party Evaluation Team], so it’s unique to Iowa State,” said Nick Johnson, IFC vice president of judicial affairs. “This is a way that the IFC can take a little bit of ownership over what our community does.”

Fraternities are required to register parties where alcohol is being served with the council, and a few of the party invitations are to be given to them, as well, Johnson said.

These invitations are then passed along to team members, who are to attend the party and complete a checklist detailing proper procedures for such an event. The procedures include distributing wristbands to anyone 21 and older to prevent underage attendees from obtaining alcohol and maintaining a sign-in sheet at the door.

Once the checklist is completed, the party is evaluated based on a points system. Each procedure on the list is worth five points, Johnson said.

If a party does not receive a score of at least 75 out of 90 points, the fraternity may be investigated by the All Greek Judicial Board, Johnson said. If the party was found to be unsafe, the fraternity under investigation would have to meet with members of the board to agree on a resolution and discuss safe procedures.

“When there’s alcohol involved, there are obviously some things that we need to worry about as far as underage drinking and safety,” Johnson said. “Those are two big things that we have to take a strong stance on.”

The most important thing is that fraternities learn from their mistakes, he said. No fraternities have been under investigation by the All Greek Judicial Board in the past year.

Although fraternities are aware a Party Evaluation Team member could come for inspection sometime during the course of the parties, they have no idea when or who the inspector would be, Johnson said. If members do their job correctly, no one at the party would be able to tell a team member from any other guest.

Members of the team typically attend two or three events in a given semester and evaluate parties in teams of two, said Gavin Thiedeman, sophomore in industrial engineering.

Thiedeman was a member of the team last year, and he said he never found major problems at the parties he attended.

Team members cannot actually break up a party, but just knowing someone could be inspecting the party helps enforce fraternity party rules, Thiedeman said.

Party Evaluation Team members are selected by the two vice presidents of judicial affairs through an interview process, said Zachary Seifert, IFC vice president of judicial affairs.

Group membership is strictly voluntary and members do not receive any monetary rewards. Gaining experience is a major incentive to join the group, Thiedeman said.

“Being involved with [the Party Evaluation Team] made me understand how cautious you really have to be when you’re planning one of these events,” he said.

“I started to understand how things like using glass bottles, things that seem like mundane details, can really be a problem.”

Registered fraternity parties often undergo an initial inspection before the party begins, Johnson said.

The team has been in existence for at least six years, Seifert said.