Stephen Lumetta
Contributing Writer
On Thursday, Sept. 18, students had an opportunity to voice concerns about the College’s party policies at the first fireside chat of the year. And take that opportunity they did — there were so many students in Lowry that many in the audience had to stand on the edges of the pit. The students expressed their concerns and questions to a panel of five people: Assistant Director of Student Activities and Campus Life Julia Zimmer, Director of Residence Life and Campus Life Amber Zifzal, Director of Security and Protective Services Steve Glick, Associate Director of Security and Protective Services and Director of Greek Life Joe Kirk and Associate Dean of Students Christie Bing-Kracker. Dean of Students Kurt Holmes was in attendance but did not participate in the panel.
One student had a question about the rationale for moving Greek students (and their parties) from houses into Bissman and Stevenson. Kirk cited safety, specifically fire codes, as a big concern. Kracker also said that Greek leaders last year wanted to move back into Bissman, and that fit with safety concerns.
There was a demand for a list of rules not just for parties but for social gatherings. Many students were concerned about how broad the house party rules and policies are. Kracker told the audience that she sent out an email with guidelines, but many students said they had never received it.
Safety was on the minds of students, as many felt that the policies that were implemented did not lead to a safer environment. Zeta Phi Gamma President Bianca Rocco ’15 said she did not feel safe on campus.
“Restrict[ing] the party scene creates a lot of binge drinking and retaliation. People are starting to go crazy and turn to other things to have fun,” said Rocco in a post-fireside chat interview. She also mentioned that drunk non-residents could swipe into Bissman Hall and bother the residents.
Arielle Cerini ’15 brought up binge drinking in dorm rooms at the fireside chat. She said that due to the limited number of large party spaces and how quickly they are all booked, people get drunk in bedrooms and sexual assault rates could rise. Kirk said “pre-gaming” has always happened on college campuses, but Cerini emphasized that people were now drinking in rooms and not just pre-gaming.
“I do not believe that administration initially considered the fact that binge drinking would increase and that drinking in bedrooms could lead to sexual assault. I would like to think that after bringing up my point on Thursday they have now considered it, but I am not certain that that is the case,” said Cerini after the fireside chat.
In an interview, Kirk said, “I can’t ignore when someone makes that comment [about sexual assault] and says that. I think we do need to look at it.” However, he also cautioned that they cannot say that the rate of sexual assaults on campus will increase with this policy.
“To me, by minimizing the locations for parties on campus and not allowing Greeks to drink in the hallways, the school is forcing more to happen behind closed doors,” said Cerini, asserting that this then would make the Party Monitor Policy useless. “It is my understanding that the Party Monitors were placed into effect to increase the safety of the students on campus and have sober individuals there to intervene when necessary. If people are drinking in their rooms, then there is no one there to intervene.”
Another student mentioned that when Greeks were in houses, they were on the south side of campus; now they are on the north side of campus, nearer to the first-year dorms, which he thought could lead to problems. The student also took issue with the fact that Douglass is a first-year residence hall, but its basement is also a party space (Note: on Monday, Residence Life hosted a conversation with Douglass residents on how they felt about its use as a party space). Kracker responded that Greeks chose to live in Bissman, and this prompted several angry students to speak out at once. Kirk said that the Greek leadership decided that issue last year, which led to many students questioning why leadership that is no longer in place was making decisions.
“As several Greek members mentioned on Thursday, a lot of the students who made the decision to move back to Bissman have since graduated and are not going through this transition [themselves]. We were also under the assumption that we would be able to use and decorate all three of the Bissman lounges in the way we would have if we were still in our houses,” said Vice President of Zeta Phi Gamma Katie Kalis ’15, who also said at the fireside chat that it seemed hypocritical to her that students of legal drinking age in Bissman couldn’t have a beer in the hall but that Douglass could host parties.
“[The Greeks] are a community, and I want them to be in a more central location … and create activities and stuff together. Being in houses — some on the north side of campus, some on the south side — they were not [as together],” Kirk explained in an interview.
Kirk also said that people couldn’t congregate in the hall with alcohol due to a past safety incident, but if they were of legal drinking age and were just simply crossing the hall with a drink, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Some students at the fireside chat also brought up concerns about how the policies affect non-Greek parties. Emilio Vargas ’15 said that he thought the party policies could be “discriminatory” towards non-Greek students and people of color. Kirk disagreed with the use of “discriminatory” and while Vargas agreed, he said that a difference in culture should not be discounted. In an interview, Vargas wondered whether the College was going to make alternate party venues accessible to students who don’t want to party in the currently available spaces.
Another student said, to applause, that it seemed like social events — parties — were restricted to Greeks. Panelists responded that party spaces are taken on a first-come, first-served basis, and any group can reserve one. Others brought up concerns about Security and Protective Services not being helpful to students. One student said she would like amnesty for people brought to the Wellness Center due to alcohol-related issues.
Toward the end of the fireside chat, Campus Council Chair Elliot Wainwright ’15 introduced himself and invited students with concerns about policies to send him a constructive email or attend Campus Council meetings.
Reactions to the fireside chat varied. While it was a little tense at times, Holmes said it was nowhere near the worst forum of his career.
“People were very candid. People were generally very polite about stuff. There were people who wanted to dump hyperbole in there and act much more grandiose about things,” said Holmes.
“We don’t think that it was a very productive conversation,” said Brittany House ’15, president of Delta Phi Alpha. “[The] administration seemed to be playing the blaming game and holding Campus Council responsible whenever anyone would mention a legitimate concern. If [the] administration does not play a part in policy-making, then the students should not be addressing the administration to begin with. The student body should have met with Campus Council.” House also said that some students at the fireside chat were disrespectful, and if they wanted to be treated like adults, they should act like adults.
“I think there were frustrations,” said Kirk. “Some of it came from … walking in with different expectations. The missing piece is that they had a forum similar to this last year to talk about the policy, and that was the opportunity. That forum was more about making changes and getting people’s thoughts and what have you. Unfortunately, very few people showed up for that one. With the little feedback they got, the policies got enacted. So I think the groups on Thursday night, it appears to me, came in thinking that this was their opportunity to express some concerns so that some changes could be made. We on the panel, I think, thought this was more education, to make sure people understood what was put into policy.”
“This was our moment to tell [the] administration face-to-face and not needing a messenger,” said Rocco. “They should have heard us then and said ‘Yes, we will fix that’ or ‘No, that cannot be fixed.’ … Why can’t they be adults and answer questions about the rules they are implementing? It just did not give any assurance for their authority.”
Holmes cautioned that parts of the current system are more “practice” than policy at the moment. For now, changing policy and practice will be a slow process, but the fireside chat on Thursday helped to give a voice to the frustrations and concerns of various groups on campus.
