ACC proposes policy revision for room parties

“It is already part of the University’s policy that if there are going to be parties with alcohol for people over 21, it is required that you register them, but there has never been a formal process to register them,” ACC member Laurie Frey ’09 explained at the meeting.

According to “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities,” the University mandates that “[t]hose who are of legal drinking age and who wish to host a gathering with alcohol must obtain approval from and comply with the guidelines established by the Office of the Dean of the Undergraduate Students or the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School.”

Without an established registration protocol, however, “the policy has been kind of useless,” Frey said. “But we’re trying to fix that.”

ACC members explained that if the proposal is accepted, registered parties would then be subject to visits from undergraduate student “party checkers.” These party checkers would stop by once or twice on the given night to make sure the event was under control.

Director of Campus Life Initiatives Amy Campbell emphasized at the meeting that the policy is still in the planning stages, but it has already met with criticism from current students.

A freshman fraternity member who spoke on the condition of anonymity called the policy change “dumb.”

“I really don’t think it will have an effect,” he added. “Very few people will adhere to the new policy, so I don’t think it will be a big deal at all.”

Thomas Kontchou ’10 said he was not bothered by the policy change, though he explained that it might disadvantage underclassmen who want to host parties where alcohol is consumed.

“[Underclassmen are] more prone to having room parties because they are not yet in eating clubs,” he said.

Frey noted that the party registration policy would be enforced through disciplinary measures. “You’re going to get in trouble if you don’t [register]. If Public Safety finds you in your room with alcohol and your party is not registered, you’re going to get in trouble.”

Kontchou praised the way the policy proposed to involve students in maintaining a safe environment, saying that it would help upperclassmen “party responsibly by themselves.”

“If you have students watching other students, it helps the atmosphere, because often now it’s an ‘us versus Public Safety’ attitude,” he said. “If we were allowed to have the [responsibility to be enforced by students], we’ll just make sure that it doesn’t get out of hand.”

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But the policy change won’t completely fix problems with underage drinking, Kontchou added. “It is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t really solve the problem, which is that students chronically engage in an activity that is illegal for them to do,” he said. “That’s when you have crazy stuff happening.”

The fraternity member said he doubted students would even adhere to the new policy. “I don’t think those who are over 21 will go the extra mile to actually register the party,” he said. “For groups on campus that do have parties, like sports teams or fraternities or sororities, the majority of people [are] under 21, so those groups will not make the effort to register their parties.”