Alcohol transports fall for weekend of pickups

Five intoxicated students were transported to McCosh Health Center and the University Medical Center at Princeton (UMCP) last weekend, the Department of Public Safety reported. This marks a significant decline from the 16 students who were transported during last year’s pick-ups and initiation weekend.

Interclub Council adviser Tim Prugar ’06 said that the dip in alcohol-related transports followed a concerted effort by the clubs.

“Obviously, the events of last year were of enormous concern with the clubs,” he said, adding that this year the clubs instituted a “very, very firm anti-pregaming stance.”

Prugar also said that new members were “expected to sign an agreement” of “acceptable” conduct.

“The same expectations the clubs held their members to, they held to sophomores to as well,” Prugar said, making “for a safer and ultimately more enjoyable experience.”

Two of the five students were hospitalized at UMCP, while the other three were transported to University Health Services (UHS) at McCosh, Public Safety said. Three of the five cases involved fellow students reporting the intoxication, while the other two were reported by UHS personnel.

It is unclear whether the transports were related to last weekend’s pickups and initiation activities by many of the eating clubs; none of the transports reported by Public Safety came from Prospect Avenue.

Borough Police received four ambulance calls on campus last weekend, and they “appear to be the same incidents” as those reported by Public Safety, police Lieutenant Nick Sutter said in an e-mail. Only limited information was available for release on Sunday afternoon, Sutter added.

This year’s transports contrast with last year, when 16 students were transported, 11 of whom were taken to UMCP. It is also the lowest number of transports for pickups and initiation weekend since 2000, when three students were taken to UMCP. Over the last decade, an average of eight students each year required alcohol-related transports, according to Public Safety records.

Four of the students requiring transport, including both students taken to UMCP, were under the age of 21. Last year, 14 of the 16 transported students were underage.

“In regards to the University’s efforts to address high-risk drinking by students … there has been a collaborative effort between the eating club presidents, [the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students] and the Department of Public Safety to promote safety and responsibility during eating-club activities this weekend,” Public Safety Deputy Director Charles Davall said in an e-mail.

Public Safety provided data on alcohol-related calls from Friday morning through Sunday morning. The first call in that time period came at 4:21 p.m. on Friday.

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Additional Public Safety officers were on duty last Friday for pickups, Davall said, and the times when clubs entered campus were regulated.

In addition, three underage persons were arrested over the weekend by Borough Police for possession of alcohol on Olden Street, but Sutter said he did not know if they were University students.