Although Arizona State University imposed a ban on alcohol for its sororities and fraternities in an effort to curb their campus crime rate, a similar ban at the UA has never taken place.

However, an alcohol ban on campus is always possible, said Anthony Skevakis, program coordinator for the Dean of Students Office.

“”Technically, a ban could happen at any campus anywhere,”” Skevakis said. “”It depends on the amount and type of behavior, but if there is an incident that we need to take action for we absolutely reserve the right to do so.””

The ban at ASU, which began last week and will continue throughout the weekend, is the second alcohol ban to occur at ASU in a year, according to The Associated Press. The ban was the result of an increase in violent crimes on campus.

Alcohol is often a factor in criminal acts, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia of the University of Arizona Police Department.

“”Generally, whenever you introduce or invite alcohol to a situation, there is a tendency to increase the potential of risk,”” Mejia said.

Mejia said UAPD gets more calls for aggravated assault, sexual assault, robberies or homicide when people are drinking alcohol.

“”From this, we can judge what destructive means alcohol can have on our campus and our students.””

But while alcohol is often related to crime, it is not an absolute indication of it, Mejia said.

“”Alcohol does play a major role in crimes on campus, but a ban on drinking at fraternities won’t eliminate drinking on campus,”” he said. “”We need to hold individuals accountable for their behavior. … Not all fraternities drink and participate in criminal acts; some are taking an active role in eliminating criminal behavior by policing themselves.””

With guidelines already in place by the Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils encouraging students involved in greek life to drink responsibly, one fraternity’s representative said they think a ban would be going too far.

“”When greeks have any sort of function with alcohol, there are guidelines to follow,”” said Rhys Williams, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and a journalism junior. “”If you were to take alcohol away from the greek system with a ban, people will still drink on their own time, which is far more dangerous than drinking at sponsored events.””

For the most part, Mejia said, UA students are responsible, which makes the possibility of a ban on our campus less likely.

“”We have good kids on campus,”” he said. “”The decisions that they make are based on personal perspective on what the right thing to do is and that’s all we expect of them.””