Town-gown officials look at campus drinking, not ordinance

Princeton Borough, Township and University officials gathered at Nassau Hall yesterday to discuss student alcohol issues on campus. The meeting, which has been in the works for months, focused on the University's efforts to curb excess student drinking not on the 'Street,' but within school walls, participants said.

Borough and Township officials were primarily interested in the University's educational and disciplinary measures, Borough Mayor Marvin Reed said.

The much talked about alcohol ordinance — which would permit Borough Police to enter private residences on probable cause and arrest underage drinkers — did not come up, he said.

"[The University] is obviously providing good medical service to students when they pass out," Reed said. "The question is, do we have to wait to that point before service is rendered?"

University representatives responded to such queries with a description of the policies already in place and plans for the future.

"[We] brought up the fact that there is a formal policy at Princeton concerning alcohol use and abuse," Daniel Silverman, the University's chief medical officer, wrote in an email.

Silverman said he presented disciplinary brochures and AlcoholEDU, an interactive online program, newly adopted by the University, through which students learn about the dangers of drinking.

Borough and Township officials also asked about the roles of residential advisers and the possibility of collaborative effort by student groups and the administration, said Janet Dickerson, vice president for campus life.

"There was a lot they didn't know about our current policies," she said. "The primary focus was for information, for increased communication."

Though not a priority yesterday morning, the alcohol ordinance is not entirely out of the question in the future, Reed said.

"It's still on the table, but we're trying to determine whether students are sufficiently aware of the ordinance and laws that we already have in place, and of their potential liability as well as their responsibility to help their fellow students to not go overboard," he said.

Another topic at the meeting was news that four students — an unusually high number — were cited for driving while intoxicated since the start of the school year, Dickerson said. One danger of pushing student drinking "underground" is that alcohol-related activities move from campus to behind the wheel, she said.

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Reed said the Borough feels that though it has made "considerable" progress with the eating clubs, it has less of a handle on campus drinking because it should be the University's responsibility.

Silverman remained optimistic that the meeting was a good beginning. The University plans to circulate brochures concerning its alcohol policy in the Borough and Township and to meet again after some progress has been made, he said.

Reed, however, seemed less enthused.

"The University has been trying to assure us right along that they have enough mechanisms in place to manage the situation without the Borough adopting new ordinances," he said. "That still remains to be seen."

Also present at the meeting were Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand, Borough Council President Mildred Trotman, Princeton Health Officer William Hinshillwood, University Director of Community and State Affairs Pam Hersh and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Marianne Waterbury.