---

BY MARTHA MARRAZZA

In print | Published November 17, 2005

Administrators are moving quickly to tighten enforcement of the college’s alcohol policy as part of a procedure overhaul that was planned before recent alcohol-related incidents. New policy interpretations and changes will be made as soon as next semester, according to Associate Dean of Student Life Myrt Westphal.

While administrators have not yet altered the college’s alcohol policy, they hope to tighten the present system of funding social events on campus. Currently, party proposals and funding go through the Social Affairs Committee, which is funded by the college.

Although the college has never intended for these funds to pay for alcohol, some students have been eluding the reimbursement system between SAC and the Student Budget Committee by submitting false receipts or requesting extra items in their party proposals to obtain money that is in turn used for alcohol. Under the new practice, receipt falsification and other methods to use college funds for alcohol would be strictly prohibited.

Westphal stressed that administrators want to crack down on a party-funding system that has developed into a situation of “benign neglect.”

“It became clear that SAC funds were paying for some of the alcohol [at parties] but we don’t know how much. We need to be very clear that we cannot do this — we cannot have college funds paying for alcohol,” she said. “This is not a change in policy, but a change in practice. There needs to be closer oversight. We never intended school funds to pay for alcohol.”

Emily Nolte ’07, a member of SAC and Student Council, said SAC had begun to increase scrutiny of party proposals before the college began talks of cracking down on the system.

“Right now and it’s always been the policy of SAC that SAC does not fund alcohol. SAC is aware of the fact, and I think the administration is aware, that in the past sometimes people throwing parties have used fake receipts and other such means to get money which they have then used to buy alcohol. I have heard many stories of people standing outside Genuardi’s saying ‘Can I have your receipts?’ until they got enough,” she said. “SAC tried very hard this year to make that really hard for people to do … we’re working to make sure it’s not a problem now.”

Because of possible liability issues that may arise from the current system of indirectly funding alcohol, administrators are moving fast to tighten the policy, said Karen Lorang ‘07, a Dean’s Advisory Committee and Student Council member.

“I think there is a definite understanding among the deans which came across in the committee meetings which is in terms of liability issues, something has to change pretty quickly,” she said. “One of the changes that we have to be very firm with is to make really clear that student activity funds are not in any way supposed to be sued for alcohol. The deans know that students can be clever and can find some way to work the system. They’re going to crack down on that. The policy needs to start being more strictly enforced and that will happen right away.”

Student Council Co-President Tom Evnen ‘07 said liability issues almost require the college to change its current policy. "I think there is a certain amount of inevitability for these changes. It’s unfeasible for the college to make no changes at all because the college has legal liability," he said. “Everyone has to recognize that they’ve been privileged that the college has purchased their alcohol for them. It’s unclear that this is a policy that can legally continue without putting the college at a great risk. I understand the sense of urgency from the college.”

Administrators and students are also discussing other future policy changes, Evnen said. “Other aspects of the policy are still being discussed. There is some discussion about whether beer is less dangerous than ambiguously mixed drinks at parties. Most everyone in the administration agrees that they do not want to police students. Most plans for change are just dealing with issues about the college funding alcohol.”

In addition to the volume and strength of alcohol available at parties, Westphal elaborated on more issues that the college is considering, including how to deal with parties that use alcohol to fundraise and how to improve alcohol education.

Lorang predicted that the college’s crackdown on SAC funding procedures will be followed by other amendments to the alcohol policy. “I don’t think it will be the only change. Other changes or possibilities could include having students sign formal agreements not to use the school’s money for alcohol,” she said. “This puts them in a situation like party hosts go through, where students have to take responsibility.”

Changes to the college’s alcohol policy coincide with Delta Upsilon’s moves to revamp their own alcohol policy. “We have been in a process to revise our alcohol policy for pretty much the entire fall … Our alumni base told us that we need to lower our liability on campus,” DU member Alex Ryan-Bond ‘07 said. "It doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop drinking; it just means that we’ve gotten smarter about it."

“We met with an international DU branch leader about a week ago, and we decided to switch over from kegs to cans of beer because if there are reports of underage drinking at DU, the presence of a keg increases the level of the felony in the state of Pennsylvania,” Ryan-Bond said. “We also wrote into our policy that we have three sober brothers at all times during a party. We’re always a step or two ahead of the college’s policy. Now I think we have the strictest alcohol policy of any institution on Swarthmore’s campus.”

Administrators are actively seeking input on how to balance the needs of Swarthmore’s social scene with those of student safety. “We want to work with students to figure out how to have a robust party scene and still have fun here,” Westphal said. “The past is past. We’re not looking to get people in trouble for what has happened in the past. This is a forward looking practice.”

Lorang agreed that the changes are not intended to underscore the college’s desire to promote self-responsibility among students. “I think the things everyone cares about — safety, liability of the college — are being taken into account,” she said. “That’s balanced by the need for our community to be special, for students to have fun and for personal freedom to play as much a role as it can in decision-making and life on campus.”

The college continues to foster an attitude of openness in regards to the safe consumption of alcohol, Nolte said. “I know that the college is still very firm in that they don’t want to be a campus where the RAs are going and checking rooms of students under 21 to make sure there’s no alcohol,” she said. “Although there might be some larger change that will come up, I don’t think there will be anything too drastic.”

Additional reporting by Ian Yarett

---

« RETURN TO NEWS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »