400 t-shirts confiscated in Public Safety bust

Public Safety officers entered a 1901 Hall room on Friday and confiscated nearly 400 Newman's Day shirts, University officials and students who were there said.

Following the instructions of Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan, two Public Safety officers entered the room around 3 p.m. Friday and brought the shirts to Deignan's office.

The development came after a week of national attention on the Newman's Day tradition — held Saturday — in which some students try to drink 24 beers in 24 hours. The lawyer of actor Paul Newman, whose son died of a drug overdose, recently asked the University to take measures to stop the tradition.

With media crews on campus, many eating clubs tightened security.

The day passed relatively quietly. Only two or three students were sent to University Health Services — fewer than on an average Saturday night, Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman said. Gary Nuttall, Public Safety acting supervisor on duty Sunday evening, said two minor alcohol-related incidents occurred Saturday.

The students whose shirts Public Safety confiscated said they paid $2,000 for them and planned to sell them during the day Saturday. One shirt had the slogan: "If found, please return to McCosh Health Center." Another had a picture of Newman's face and the quote, "24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not."

The administration learned about the plans to sell the shirts just after noon on Friday, when Cleland Welton '06 forwarded an advertisement for the shirts to an email list that he didn't realize included Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Maria Flores-Mills, he said.

Less than three hours later, several students were in a four-person suite in 1901 Hall when two Public Safety officers knocked on the door, students and Public Safety said. After being told to enter, the officers asked to speak with a resident of the suite.

Associate Director of Public Safety Duncan Harrison stepped outside with resident Taylor Bright '05 to explain why the shirts were being confiscated.

Harrison declined to say the reasons in an interview, citing privacy concerns. But Deignan said the shirts were confiscated because "they were advertising a very dangerous drinking game that the University has been clear it does not support."

University alcohol policy states that violations occur "when serving of alcohol encourages excessive drinking (e.g. drinking games)."

Deignan called it a "reasonable extrapolation of the rules" to extend it to include anything that "advertises and promotes drinking games."

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Immediately after the shirts were taken, Bright and two other students went to see Deignan to try to recover the property. Deignan said the students arrived as she had her coat on and was leaving for the day.

Bright then met with Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Hilary Herbold, who explained that the shirts were in Deignan's office and they could meet this morning to decide further action.

Deignan said Sunday she stands by her decision to take the shirts.

"They had their opportunity not to buy the shirts long ago, and they made their decision in spite of what the University says," Deignan said. "On a Friday afternoon, this was not something I was prepared to sit down and negotiate about."