Administration corrects last week’s statements regarding the alcohol policy
Kris Fronzak
Editor in Chief
As of late, there has been a fair amount of confusion regarding changes to the College’s Alcohol Policy. Up until this week, the Voice heard several conflicting opinions from Resident Assistants, the Office of Residence Life and members of the administration.
Fortunately, additional interviews with the director of Residence Life Krista Kronstein and Campus Council Chair Kevin Carpenter ’12 put the record straight. This year, all lounges on campus were “study” areas where alcohol could not be consumed. The delayed release of the 2011-2012 Scot’s Key now allows for some of those areas to be social lounges where alcohol is allowed.
“As an institution, we recognized that the best way to implement the policy was to follow the Scot’s Key,” said Kronstein. “We have been telling the RA’s that until we hear otherwise, lounges cannot have alcohol present.”
The official designations of study versus social lounges were announced at a Residence Life Staff meeting on Monday evening. The designations are posted outside of dormitory lounges to clear up confusion for residents.
All of Kenarden, the first floor of Babcock and first-year centers (including Bornhuetter, Compton and Douglass) have no signs, because they are automatically study areas.
Furthermore, the new policy of dorm lounges being pre-designated as study or social spaces is not a push from the administration or a way to limit freedoms. The Judicial Committee of Campus Council is responsible for the policy — it is a decision spearheaded by students, for students.
“The policy was designed so that the designations would make more sense,” explained Carpenter, the current chair of Campus Council. “But the change was created too late to enact before room draw this year.”
In many ways, this policy is more logical. Previously, if a student did not attend the one-day voting process of deciding on “wet” or “dry” lounges, their vote would automatically be added to the ranks of “dry” votes. A recent editorial by Eric Batke ’12 compared these elections to when “a citizen abstains from voting for a presidential candidate, their vote should just be tallied for Ron Paul.”
The current policy will remedy the illogical voting process, as well as deter students who are under 21 years of age from voting for lounges to be social.
Some of the lounges can be rented for parties once they are approved by the Residence Director, Area Director and Dean of Students Office. Regardless of whether a lounge designated as “social” still does not allow unrestricted drinking.
“Responsible drinking is the number one alcohol policy in the Scot’s Key. It is the only allowable form of drinking,” said Kronstein. She described responsible drinking as having a beer, or drinking a six-pack between friends.
For those looking for more information on the alcohol policy can be found on page 69 of the Scot’s Key, which is available on the College’s website.