Colonial off tap for rest of semester

Correction appended

Charges have been filed against Colonial Club president Tommy Curry '08 for serving alcohol to a minor and maintaining a nuisance after an intoxicated student told Borough Police that she had been drinking in the club. As a result, Colonial will be off tap for the rest of the semester and will not hold any more social events.

The decision to cancel events for the rest of the semester was taken as a precautionary measure. "The last thing we want is to have another issue come up in the last few weeks of school," Curry said in an interview. "It seemed most prudent to err on the side of caution and keep the club low key for the rest of the semester."

Over Houseparties weekend, Public Safety received a call from a student who lost her balance while walking, fell over and injured herself.

When Public Safety requires an ambulance to assist university members, the call must go through the Borough or Township police. The police then dispatch the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, Public Safety deputy director Charles Davall said in an e-mail.

"Apparently, the [Borough Police] recently began to send officers to all first aid squad calls," Davall said. "That's why the Borough officer came to the call."

Though the student was sent to McCosh Health Center and not the University Medical Center at Princeton, the fact that an ambulance was needed involved the Borough Police and exposed Colonial to legal action.

Borough Police informed Curry of the charges on Thursday afternoon, Curry said.

Colonial's undergraduate officers and graduate board then decided to go off tap and cancel all other social events for the rest of the semester, including a Dean's Date performance by a cover band called "The Nerds."

Curry said that Colonial already has several safety precautions in place meant to prevent dangerous drinking. The club has officers and professional bouncers on duty whenever the club is on tap, and officers have been instructed to contact Public Safety officers for transport or aid whenever they find someone who may be in trouble.

"We did everything right this past weekend," Curry said. "It's the kind of weekend where something slipped through the cracks. The club is not accepting any sort of guilt. We did everything we could, and it's not the sort of situation where we're saying there are things we really need to fix because we were doing everything right."

Terrace closed its doors to non-members last year after a student fell down the stairs and suffered a minor concussion during Initiations. Charges were originally brought against then-president Patti Chao '07 but were later filed against the club's trustees.

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Though Terrace was initially charged with the more serious crime of maintaining a nuisance, which punishes an individual who "knowingly conducts or maintains any premises, place or resort where persons gather for purposes of engaging in unlawful conduct," the charges were eventually dropped in the proceedings.

The Graduate Board pled guilty to charges of serving alcohol to a minor and had to pay a fine of $664. The club was members-only for three weeks.

Correction

The original version of this article stated that the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad contacted Borough Police after they were called by Public Safety. The Borough Police actually sent an officer to the first aid call on their own initiative. The Daily Princetonian regrets the error.