Changes and clarifications made in many sections of policy
Meg Itoh
News Editor
Campus Council (CC) released a draft of the revised alcohol policy to the College community on April 12. The revisions were made by the Alcohol Task Force (ATF), formed at the beginning of the school year after students expressed confusion regarding the existing alcohol policy.
“I think that we had a good range of student opinions and voices. I’m happy with the way that students on the committee did their research; I think they understood what they were doing and [made] informed decisions,” said Jessica Ettell, administrative liaison to the ATF.
“The proposed policy is very clear of expectations, which is helpful, and all of the materials are in one place so people will know exactly where to look if they have questions,” she said.
The ATF provided the draft of the student alcohol policy to CC in December 2015. Ettell cited the lengthy revision process as a reason for the delay.
“The committee [finished], then presented it for a review. It went through the committee, then was submitted for legal [and] staff review, and then Campus Council for assessment. The staff members looked at it to make sure it was consistent with their specific office practice and procedure,” she said.
The draft of the revised alcohol policy that has been released contains several changes and clarifications, many of which are listed below.
Section 10: Spaces for alcohol consumption states a new change in the policy, in which a student or visitor 21 years of age or older “may be in transit from one room to another in the same residential facility while in the possession of an open container.” Therefore students or visitors of legal age may now transfer alcoholic beverages from their room to a wet lounge.
Section 12: Guidelines for small social gatherings state that “events with 25 or fewer participants where alcohol is being consumed are considered small social gatherings” and do not require completion of registration forms.
Section 13: Guidelines for large social gatherings and events state that “events with more than 25 participants are considered large social gatherings.” Furthermore, any event that has “between 25 and 40 people but at which alcohol is not being served does not need to be registered in advance”, and at such gatherings, the rules for individual consumption apply. The alcohol policy draft states that this is intended to keep medium-sized gatherings at which some individuals may be consuming alcohol from requiring registration. However, the College must “still be notified of such gatherings for safety purposes.”
Section 13 also explains that at events where alcohol is be