Dartmouth Bans Keg Jump

By Andrew Grossman | Monday, January 15, 2001

James Wright and his cronies in the Office of Residential Life have found a new, unexpected, and unflappable ally in their movement to temper student life on Dartmouth's campus: the insurance industry.

Last term, the demands of one or more insurance companies extinguished the fires that students had burned in their fireplaces for warmth since the founding of the College. This term, Prudential, State Farm, or one of their ilk clamped down on Psi Upsilon's perennially popular keg jump, refusing to insure it.

Or, at least, that's the story as told by Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman in response to an email from Greek Life Steering Committee member (and former Dartmouth Review editor) Christian Hummel '01. Others tell it quite differently.

On Thursday, January 4, Psi Upsilon president Mike Holick '02 received a call from Cassie Barnhardt, the CFS advisor. She told him, with few details, that Psi Upsilon might not be able to flood its front yard to form an ice rink, as it usually does in the winter. Without a rink, the keg jump would be impossible.

Holick, away on Friday at a convention, sent house manager Tyler Garland '02 and former president Dan Mahoney '01 to meet with Barnhardt. They were shown a letter from the College's insurance carrier, which was unable to arrange coverage for the fraternity's rink with the terms under which it had been made in the past. Worse, a search for other insurers had also failed. Another letter, from Redman to the fraternity, explained that without insurance coverage the fraternity would be unable to transform its yard into a rink. Claiming to have been caught by surprise, Redman had been forced to make the decision sometime after 4:30 PM on January 3—the absolute last minute.

Even Redman admits, however, that the conflict is over priorities, making an analogy to heating oil. 'When the price of heating oil goes up which it has we cannot refuse to pay the extra money unless we want to live without heat,' wrote Redman. 'The same holds true on insurance.'

Following his analogy, Redman decided that Psi Upsilon could stand a bit of winter and refused to pay the extra money. Any difficulties flaunted about finding coverage under Dartmouth's specific, doubtlessly unreasonable terms are put forth as a red herring. In general, it's not unusual for a policy's cost or terms to be increased and slightly modified, respectively, from year to year. It is unusual, however, for existing coverage, especially liability coverage, to be let to lapse.

The College has made clear in the past—especially last year when Psi Upsilon was put on probation following the jump—its distaste for the event. Only now, though, has it found an accomplice to whom students seemingly have no appeal.

The more paranoid amongst us have been given much fuel to fire their anxiety. Minimum Standards—the rules which all Greek houses must obey—on penalty of derecognition or expulsion—are explicit on the subject of insurance: All houses must carry general liability and property insurance, and most choose to do so through the College's group purchase agreement, which offers very favorable rates. Unfortunately, the group insurance forbids organizations from purchasing their own coverage above the group purchase—such as for a special event or specific hazard—without the College's permission. Fraternities and sororities are thus left the decision of purchasing insurance through the College, a Faustian bargain, or securing their own coverage, at prohibitive expense.

Despite the seemingly intractable situation, Psi Upsilon's Garland remained upbeat from the beginning. 'We are considering all of our options as we continue discussions with the administration. Hopefully, we can swiftly reach a conclusion that is in the best interest of our fraternity and the community as a whole.'

Initially, though, Garland appeared to be in the minority, as students expressed outrage, most unprintable here, over the death of the rink and keg jump as well as the College's dishonesty in the matter. Hummel lamented both the manner in which the decision was conveyed to the fraternity and the lack of student participation. 'That the College was unwilling to discuss its concerns with the fraternity leadership suggests that the College and its officials are unwilling to treat the students as capable enough to participate in an honest, constructive dialogue.'

Similar accusations have been widespread since the 1999 announcement of the Trustees' Student Life Initiative. Decisions affecting fraternities and sororities—over matters from keg regulations to rush timing—have been handed down without concern for student opinion. And, as these decisions have piled up, their overall direction has become clear to many: the College is waging an all-out public relations war against its Greek system. Last summer, houses were ordered to remove permanent bars and taps. Basements have been threatened repeatedly with renovation or closure. And now the keg jump, perhaps the most notorious and visible example of Greek excess, may be no more than myth for students of the class of 2004 forward.

But the possibility of compromise has grown stronger after several days of negotiations between Psi Upsilon and the College. The College has given the fraternity permission to seek additional coverage for the rink and keg jump, and fraternity leaders are now scrambling to do so before the Winter Carnival in February. Although the College may throw a wrench into any plan Psi Upsilon is able to devise, or the fraternity may in fact be unable to secure coverage, fraternity leaders are confident that a deal will be struck in enough time to freeze the rink and empty the requisite kegs.

Once again, the student body has stunned the administration with the volume of its protest. When it comes to their freedom, Dartmouth students have shown themselves to be far from apathetic. From the rallies that marked the turbulent Winter Carnival of 1999 to last fall's intense discussions over the pushing back of the rush process, students have shown the administration that they will not be passively assaulted.

Yet, this situation, even if it is resolved, is worse than those before it. So far, the College has refused to acknowledge its role in ending, or at least endangering, a well-regarded, enjoyable, and mostly harmless tradition. A junior, who declined to be identified, summed up his indignation succinctly: 'We're Ivy League students. Can our own administrators really think we're that dumb?'

To Wright, Redman, et al.: 'fess up. We know State Farm didn't steal the keg jump.

Dartmouth Bans Keg Jump

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