Initiations unaffected by alcohol charges, clubs say

While most eating clubs held traditional initiations for new members this past weekend, others, such as Colonial and Quad, have rescheduled for this coming weekend.

Though this decision comes in the wake of arrests made at both clubs this past week, Quad president Corey Sanders '04 denies that these events influenced the club's decision to reschedule initiations.

"We pushed back initiations in order to give second round sign-ins a little more time to get situated within the club," Sanders said. "A lot of these new members felt a little uncomfortable being immediately initiated by people they didn't know so we wanted to give them more time to relax and meet people within the club."

Colonial president Ben Handzo '04 was unavailable for comment.

A string of summonses for serving minors and related charges has recently been issued at the Street. Former Colonial president Chris Langhammer '03, Colonial officers Anna-Rachel Dray-Seigel '04 and Justin Mirabal '03 and former Quad president Rolando Amaya '03 were charged last week with serving alcohol to minors in November.

Cap and Gown president Matthew Groh '03 was issued the same charge early Sunday morning after police responded to a call from a Cap officer requesting medical attention for an underage female who was unconscious at the club.

The arrests have made tighter security an important issue on the Street, and clubs like Terrace have begun to take steps to address the problem of underage drinking.

Only students with a PUID will be allowed to enter the club except in special cases where presidential approval will be required, said Jacob Shapiro '04, Terrace president. In addition, the taproom will be open only to members and their friends.

Most of the clubs have increased their security efforts, said Noah Kaye '03, who has worked security at several of the eating clubs.

"In my experience, the clubs have been very responsive to changes in the Borough's attitude, as well as the University's," he said. "Increasing security is an obvious, and maybe, the only measure to take when both are leaning on the clubs."

Despite the security changes, Shapiro is confident that the clubs are still open and attractive places for students to hang out.

"Tightened security has allowed us to maintain an atmosphere of fun without having people getting sick everywhere. It has also reduced the worry of having to take people to McCosh," he said.

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Other clubs such as Cottage have not changed their security procedures, and despite recent problems on the Street, most clubs reported that their initiations went on as previously planned.