Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2002/03/01/trustees_decide_on_new_alcohol_policy_says_source.php
Friday, March 1, 2002
In an institution directed by only sixteen Trustees with few links to alumni and virtually no link to the student body, policies can be altered with remarkable speed and little discussion. Dartmouth's policies governing alcohol use on campus, including in privately-owned fraternities and sororities, will be replaced with much stricter regulations coming straight from 'the Trustees and the President' of Dartmouth College, an employee in the College's Student Life department revealed to The Dartmouth Review. Rejecting less-punitive alcohol policies soon to be proposed by Special Advisor to the Dean of the College and Dean of Residential Life Robert Binswanger, the Trustees have already determined a strict new alcohol policy to be enacted in the face of any contrary recommendations.
Dean Binswanger confirmed that his group had yet to receive any feedback regarding their forthcoming proposals, telling the Review 'I don't know anything about [a new policy].' Binswanger added, 'It's possible that a decision could be made that has nothing to do with me, but I have had nothing to do with any such decision.' The Dartmouth Review's source confirmed that such a decision has, 'to the best of my knowledge,' already been made.
According to the Student Life employee, the Trustees will adopt a proposal to make the alcohol standards that govern Greek houses identical to those that govern College-owned, non-residential facilities like the Hopkins and Collis Centers. For all registered events at Greek houses, alcohol will be purchased by the College and distributed by trained and certified students, who, in turn, will be monitored by other student employees of the College, all to ensure that no one without valid identification proving that they are 21 or older will be served alcohol. Greek houses will most likely be forced to pay the College for 'catering' the event. This catering of alcohol will 'most likely be handled by DDS [Dartmouth Dining Services]' since they have experience in handling beverage distribution, according to the College employee. Houses will not be allowed to purchase or distribute their own alcohol at registered events, nor will alcohol be served after the registration of a party ends, usually at 3 AM.
The impact of such a policy on Dartmouth's current social scene would be enormous. The student-controlled nature of parties in Greek houses is a key draw and perhaps the root of the houses' popularity. The new alcohol restriction policy would represent the most significant involvement of the College with social events held at Greek houses to date. The loss of student independence in this area would certainly provoke a strong student response and would likely result in a dramatic decrease in the number of registered parties on campus, as previous College policies to stem alcohol consumption have.
The policy-shift would certainly be unexpected. Dean Binswanger recently spoke to Dartmouth's Greek Honor Society, the Order of Omega, and indicated that College-Greek relations, specifically College policies governing alcohol consumption, were soon to improve. His speech was the most recent of several encouraging developments for Dartmouth's Greeks, including the removal from probation of several houses, a strong winter rush, the avoidance of significantly increased insurance premiums in a seller's insurance market, and a decline in disciplinary actions taken against houses violating College policies.
Binswanger told the assembled Greek students that his committee had concluded that the current alcohol policy is flawed and geared against students. He suggested that a new policy cover all students on campus, not just Greeks and not just undergraduates.
He called for an end to the current 'good Samaritan' policy, in which a student or student organization can turn over to a Safety & Security officer a drunken friend without fear of disciplinary action for themselves or the friend, provided neither the friend nor the samaritan has been previously involved in a similar situation. Instead, he said, students and representatives of student groups should be able to turn in any student at any time without fear of repercussions for themselves or the intoxicated party. Said Binswanger, 'We want people to go to Dick's House if they need it,' no matter what the circumstances.
He suggested that other policies be modified, including a rule disallowing 21 year-olds from drinking outdoors or in the common areas of dorms. According to Binswanger, Safety and Security should only inspect registered parties in response to complaints. He said that Greek houses should be able to register parties by campus e-mail, so that they might register instantly without penalty if a crowd visits their house unexpectedly. He proposed that limits on the number of kegs or cases allowed at registered parties be lifted.
And finally, Binswanger told the assembled students that his committee wants Greek houses to monitor themselves and be held responsible for their own monitoring failures. The College should not feel it has to monitor and control every aspect of students' alcohol use, he said. These suggestions met with strong approval from the students of Order of Omega. Student consensus after Binswanger's speech was that the College's administration had surprisingly concluded that Dartmouth's students ought to manage their own social lives and alcohol use.
Possibly related to the forthcoming alcohol policy, several events planned for the end of the term in the Collis student center will feature an open bar (with a 2-3 drink maximum per person) for students aged 21 and over. The events are to be 'test cases' for future College-sponsored events with alcohol. The first event will feature a comedian/motivational speaker and will be sponsored by the Men's Project. The speaker will address issues surrounding the male gender role. Event organizers plan to serve $2,000 worth of beer and wine.
Assistant Dean of Residential Life Cassie Barnhardt sent an email message to the CFSC Presidents on Friday, February 22, claiming that the information revealed to the Review regarding Dartmouth's alcohol policy is incorrect. She writes that 'no actions or changes have even been considered yet.' See her full email at http://www.dartreview.com.
It is unclear, however, whether the Office of Residential Life, the Student Assembly and other campus groups have yet been informed about the Trustees' alcohol policy.
Given the strong denial by College officials, the final alcohol policy changes to be enacted by the College also remain unclear. Time will tell if the alcohol policy is changed to reflect Binswanger's proposals or if the Trustees' stricter regimen of alcohol regulation will prevail. If the information received by the Review is correct, the forthcoming policy would constitute the Trustee's strongest step yet, three years after the announcement of the Student Life Initiative, to end Dartmouth's social scene, 'as we know it.'