Student Assoc. protests proposed measures against alcohol
The Student Association will release a position paper on their web site today arguing against the on-campus keg ban proposed by the Disciplinary Review Committee.
“We are working on alternate proposals or suggestions that might be better in curbing alcohol abuse and detrimental behavior,” Student Association President Twister Murchison (SFS ‘08) said.
The ban, proposed by the DRC last spring, is currently under consideration by Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson.
In an e-mail message, Olson declined to comment whether or not he intends to accept the proposed ban. Although there is no concrete timeline for accepting or rejecting the proposal, Olson said he will consider student input before making a final decision.
The Student Association, formerly known as GUSA, will hold a town hall meeting next Wednesday in Sellinger Lounge where students will be able to voice their opinions about the ban.
“The DRC has worked hard and very thoughtfully on these issues over the past year, and next week we’ll be seeking additional student perspectives,” Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jeanne Lord, the Chair of the Disciplinary Review Committee, said.
The Student Association paper cites several arguments against the ban, including lack of enforceability, troubled town-gown relations, the dangers of hard alcohol and statistical data from other universities.
“One of the major reasons for not liking the keg ban is that we think it’s unenforceable,” Student Association Chief of Staff Eden Schiffmann (COL ‘08) said.
Schiffmann said that if the ban were enforced, keg parties would be forced off campus, which he said would be detrimental to the perennially shaky relationship between Georgetown students and non-University-affiliated neighbors.
“If you ban kegs, you’re not going to get rid of kegs,” Schiffmann said. “You’re going to see keg parties going off campus.”
The paper argues that students would be more likely to abuse hard alcohol if kegs were not allowed in university housing.
“Hard alcohol affects you much quicker,” Schiffman said. “Especially if you’re an inexperienced drinker.”
Both the Disciplinary Review Committee and the Student Association looked at the alcohol policies of other major universities in formulating their proposals.
“The majority of our peer institutions do not allow kegs in any student living areas,” Olsen said.
Schiffmann conceded that many schools do have kegs bans, including Brown, Penn, Princeton, Villanova, Wisconsin, George Washington and the University of Maryland in College Park.
“This is very mainstream,” he said. “There are a ton [of keg bans], but there are also a good number that have been reversed.”
He cited Harvard as an example of a university that has reversed an unsuccessful keg ban.
Murchison said that the Student Association acknowledges that alcohol abuse does occur on campus and suggests possible alternatives to a keg ban including stricter sanctions for alcohol-related violations or alcohol education programs.
“We don’t think they hate students,” Schiffmann said. “We don’t think they’re trying to hurt students. We just think that this is increasing distrust between the students and the administration.”
